No. 18 Marquette Hosts No. 10 Creighton and Providence

MILWAUKEE – The No. 18 Marquette University women's volleyball team looks to upend undefeated BIG EAST foe and No. 10-ranked Creighton on Friday night at 7 p.m. CT, followed by a contest against Providence on Saturday at 6 p.m. CT at the Al McGuire Center.

The Golden Eagles (19-4, 9-1 BIG EAST) boast a nine-match win streak and own an impressive 27-1 set record over the span of victories. Marquette fell in the first set in a nonconference matchup against Northern Iowa on Sunday afternoon, but rallied for three consecutive set victories as Allie Barber led the way with 19 kills.

Anna Haak contributed 10 kills and 14 digs for her sixth double-double of the season, while Hope Werch set a career-high 21 digs in the win.

WHERE TO WATCH/FOLLOW THE ACTION:
LIVE STATS: Creighton: https://gomarquette.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary
Providence: https://gomarquette.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary

WATCH: Creighton: https://www.foxsportsgo.com/
Providence: https://gomarquette.com/watch/?Live=22&type=Live

OPPONENTS:
No. 10 Creighton (18-4, 10-0 BIG EAST): The Blue Jays are the lone conference squad to defeat Marquette this season, taking the match in straight sets in Omaha, Neb., on Sept. 23. Creighton most recently tallied a 3-0 victory against Butler on Saturday night, led by Jaali Winters with 13 kills and hitting at a .545 clip.

Providence (7-14, 1-9 BIG EAST): Sept. 23 marks another important date, as it's the last time the Friars recorded a league victory with a 3-2 decision over DePaul. Since that day, Providence dropped eight straight and most recently fell to Xavier on Saturday, 3-1. Three Friars recorded double-digit kills in the showing, led by Allison Impellizeri with 16 kills.

PROMOS:
FRIDAY vs. Creighton

Marquette men's basketball season ticket member shirt distribution
Chick-Fil-A Giveaway to the first 250 students
Bluetooth speaker to the first 100 students

SATURDAY vs. Providence

Pre-game girl scout clinic
Scouts registered for the clinic receiving a free bag of popcorn and a Marquette badge

WHAT THE TEAM IS SAYING:
On the matchup against Creighton…
"If we want a chance at winning a [regular season] conference championship, this is one we have to have. It will be a good test to see if we've improved defensively. We've been working very hard since we played them last time to really get better at defense."

On hosting Providence on Saturday…
"Providence has a fighter's mentality. They keep coming at you and they don't let a lead bother them. They always play hard and compete, so we expect that come Saturday."

-Ryan Theis
Head Coach

STORYLINES:

Marquette is on a nine-game win streak since falling at No. 10 Creighton on Sept. 23. Each conference win has occurred in straight sets, and the Golden Eagles have dropped just one set (at Northern Iowa) in the last 28 played.
The 24 consecutive sets won before the lone nonconference set loss marks a Marquette program record, previously set in 2013 with a 15-game winning streak to finish off the season.
Marquette is No. 18 in this week's AVCA Coaches Poll, a best for the Golden Eagles volleyball program. The Golden Eagles entered the AVCA Coaches Poll at No. 25 in week two after being the unofficial 26th team to open the 2018 campaign. MU is ranked for the first time since 2013.
The Golden Eagles own an RPI of 19 in the latest rankings after entering at No. 13.
Sophomore Hope Werch checked in on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll after holding a .389 hitting average in Marquette's two wins on the week. She tied a match-high 10 kills en route to a sweep over DePaul and tied a match-high and career-high 21 digs against RV Northern Iowa. Werch also added six kills, four blocks and three aces in the nonconference matchup.
Redshirt senior Jenna Rosenthal tallied her 1,000th career kill in the match against St. John's ending the contest at 1,006. She joins Allie Barber as the two Marquette players to reach 1,000 career kills this season.
Rosenthal became Marquette's all-time leader in assisted blocks in the match against Georgetown on Sept. 28. She owns 431 career assisted blocks and topped the record of 412 that Meghan Nieman set from 2013-2016. Rosenthal is also Marquette's all-time leader in total blocks with 483 currently having recently broken another of Niemann's records.
Allie Barber reached a milestone of 1,000 career kills against Villanova on Saturday, Sept. 29. The junior now owns 1,077 kills and averages 4.49 kills per set this season, good enough for 13th in the nation.
Head coach Ryan Theis picked up his 100th Marquette victory in a 3-0 sweep over Illinois State on September 15. He is in his fifth season at the helm of the Golden Eagles.
Marquette defeated then-No. 10 USC in its home opener in a five-set thriller. It was just the third victory over a top-10 opponent in the program's history, but the fourth straight season that MU defeated a ranked opponent.
The Golden Eagles lead the league and rank sixth in the NCAA with 14.79 kills per contest, paced by 4.59 per frame from Barber, which leads the BIG EAST and ranks 12th in the NCAA.
Rosenthal and Barber boast stellar hitting percentages at .365 and .354, respectively through the 19 games of the season, helping propel the Golden Eagles to a .277 average combined, which is tops in the league and 14^th nationally. Rosenthal's mark is 50th in the NCAA.
The Golden Eagles also reign supreme in handing out the ball. Running a 6-2 offense this season, junior Lauren Speckman and sophomore Sarah Rose primarily share setting duties. MU is dishing out 13.76 assists per set, which also leads the BIG EAST and is ninth among NCAA Division I schools. Speckman averages 7.18 assists per contest, while Rose is handing out 4.98.
Marquette has had a player record a double-double on 12 occasions this season. Anna Haak leads the squad with six double-doubles, while Speckman and sophomore Sarah Rose have three. Sophomore Hope Werch has recorded one double-double.
This is the 43^rd season of Marquette volleyball and the program is 757-694-5 all-time.

The Golden Eagles were picked to win the BIG EAST, earning six first-place votes. This is the first time MU has been selected to win the league.
Allie Barber was tabbed as BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year, while Jenna Rosenthal and Hope Werch were selected to the preseason squad.