MU Advances to BIG EAST Final with a 3-1 Win Over St. John's

OMAHA, Neb.-- For the second consecutive season, the Marquette University volleyball team will play in the BIG EAST Championship final after the Golden Eagles came back to defeat St. John's, 3-1 (16-25, 25-23, 25-16, 25-19) in the tournament semifinals on Friday afternoon at D.J. Sokol Arena.

Allie Barber led the Golden Eagles (26-5) with a season-best 23 kills, while Hope Werch recorded her third double-double of the season with 11 kills and 10 digs. Lauren Speckman and Sarah Rose each handed out 25 and 21 assists, respectively, while libero Martha Konovodoff collected 22 digs. Anna Haak was also in double digits with 15 digs.

"I thought St. John's was awesome in the first," head coach Ryan Theis said. "They were giving it to us at every end. They were serving bullets, I think they had seven kills off the top of blockers hands and I think everything was great. They are an awfully good group when things are working. I think we were able to get a little more pressure on them, the serve and pass game that they absolutely won in the first, and I think we evened them up in the second and then took advantage in the third and fourth."

Marquette hit .219 in the first set, but St. John's rolled to a .429 combined clip and won, 25-16. The second set was close throughout with the score tied eight times and three lead changes before the Golden Eagles won, 25-23 on a miscue from the Red Storm. Barber threw down nine kills in the frame and had 13 total after two.

MU was in control of the third set from start-to-finish closing with a 25-16 victory and held on in the fourth as Jenna Rosenthal threw down the match-winning kill.

The Golden Eagles will face the winner of top-seeded Creighton and No. 4 seed Villanova on Saturday, Nov. 24 at 4 p.m. CT. The match will air on FS2.

Match Highlights:

#BIGEASTvb Semifinal Highlights

#2 @MarquetteVB rallies past #3 @StJohnsVB in 4 sets pic.twitter.com/gCTKknkRSB
— BIG EAST Champs (@BIGEASTchamps) November 23, 2018