No. 19 Marquette Blanks St. John’s 3-0 on Sunday

QUEENS, N.Y. – It was lucky number seven for the 19^th-ranked Marquette University volleyball team as the Golden Eagles picked up their seventh consecutive sweep, 3-0 (25-17, 25-21, 25-22) on Sunday afternoon at Carnesecca Arena to finish the first half of BIG EAST play with an 8-1 record.

Senior Anna Haak recorded her third straight double-double in the match with 12 kills and 15 digs, while hitting .308 and junior Allie Barber led the Marquette (17-4, 8-1) offense with a match-high 16 kills and a .382 clip.

Setters Lauren Speckman and Sarah Rose each handed out 19 assists, while for the second straight game three MU players totaled double digit digs as sophomore Martha Konovodoff also collected 15 digs and classmate Hope Werch recorded 10.

Jenna Rosenthal had a milestone match as she reached 1,000 career kills with her first kill of the day. The redshirt senior hit for seven kills, added four service aces and totaled five blocks for the Golden Eagles.

The Golden Eagles closed the first set on a 7-0 scoring run to win, 25-17 as Barber and Haak each recorded four kills and held strong through a slow start in the second frame to earn a 25-21 win and go up, 2-0 match. Marquette got off to a strong start in the third set, but the Red Storm pressed late as two quick points forced MU to use a timeout holding onto a narrow 23-22 lead. Barber smashed her 16^th kill out of the break and an error from St. John's closed the match and preserved a sweep for the Golden Eagles.

"I give a lot of credit to our players for all wins, but these last two during a three-match week and with flight cancellations and rescheduling was impressive," head coach Ryan Theis said. "Thanks to Seton Hall and St. John's coaches and administrators for their flexibility. Time to go study for midterms!"

Efrosini Alexakou led St. John's (16-8, 5-4) with 11 kills as Erica Di Maulo collected a double-double with 25 assists and 10 digs.

The Golden Eagles return home to the Al McGuire Center and will host BIG EAST travel partner DePaul on Friday, Oct. 19 at 7 p.m. CT.