No. 18 Marquette Wraps Road Slate at Butler and Xavier

MILWAUKEE – The No. 19-ranked Marquette University women's volleyball team will take its final regular season road trip this weekend when it takes on Butler on Friday, Nov. 9 at 5 p.m. CT and Xavier on Sunday, Nov. 11 at 11:30 a.m. CT.

Marquette (22-5, 12-2 BIG EAST) has won 12 of its last 13 matches and is currently on a three-match win streak. Most recently, the Golden Eagles took down Villanova and Georgetown on the road. The 3-0 sweep on Saturday against the Hoyas helped Marquette secure its postseason appearance in the 2018 BIG EAST Volleyball Championship presented by Jeep.

Sophomores Hope Werch and Martha Konovodoff earned BIG EAST honors this week with Werch tabbed as Offensive Player of the Week and Konovodoff earning her third Defensive Player of the Week award. Werch averaged 3.43 kills, while hitting at a .347 clip and served eight aces against Villanova, which is a BIG EAST season-high. Konovodoff continued her stellar defensive work, collecting 5.43 digs per set.

The Golden Eagles will close out the BIG EAST regular season with back-to-back matches against Seton Hall on Friday, Nov. 16 and St. John's Saturday, Nov. 17 at the Al McGuire Center. Saturday will serve as senior day for the Golden Eagles honoring Anna Haak, Abby Julian and Jenna Rosenthal in a pre-match ceremony.

WHERE TO WATCH/FOLLOW THE ACTION:
LIVE STATS:
Butler: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=221699
Xavier: http://bit.ly/2BQZu3r

WATCH:
Butler: BIG EAST Digital Network via https://www.foxsportsgo.com/
Xavier: http://bit.ly/2yRmcol

OPPONENTS:

Butler (8-18, 5-9 BIG EAST): The Bulldogs sit at seventh in the BIG EAST rankings currently and are led offensively by Brooke Gregory's 2.99 kills per set. Butler is an excellent blocking team averaging 3.03 per set, which ranks third in the NCAA as Bri Lilly and Melody Davidson are the guiding offensive force. The duo ranks 1-2 in the BIG EAST with 1.54 and 1.30 blocks, respectively. Lilly has recorded three double-doubles this season and reached double digit blocking numbers in four matches.

Marquette leads the all-time series with the Bulldogs 12-8, including a 3-0 sweep in Milwaukee earlier this season.

Xavier (9-16, 7-7 BIG EAST): Xavier will host DePaul on Friday night before facing the Golden Eagles. Currently the Musketeers are locked in a three-way tie for fourth place in the BIG EAST and the final BIG EAST Tournament spot and most recently picked up a 3-0 sweep over its travel partner, Butler last weekend. Senior Meredith Klare leads the squad defensively as she collects 4.50 digs per contest, while Audrey Adams hits at a .347 clip this season, ranking third in the league behind Jenna Rosenthal and Allie Barber.

Marquette owns a 13-9 advantage in the all-time series and has won the last three meetings, including a 3-0 sweep in Milwaukee earlier this season.

WHAT THE TEAM IS SAYING:
On Butler…
"The concern with Butler is always their ability to block balls and cause your hitters to be uncomfortable. Blocking can do that at any point, so Butler has the potential to make your offense sputter. They certainly have some players that can kill it and some athletic players that can score points. If they start blocking and scoring, you're going to be in trouble."

On Xavier…
"Xavier is probably the most improved team in the BIG EAST from game one until now. They are absolutely playing for a shot at the conference tournament, it is their final home game, senior day with five seniors and they are playing for a spot in the tournament, so without question we will see their best performance of the year. They are dangerous offensively and they run it as fast as they can and bring it back as fast as they can. If you're not ready for that speed it can be really disruptive. The goal is to keep enough pressure on them at all times so that they are not coming back fast."
-Ryan Theis
Head Coach

STORYLINES:

Marquette is on a three-game win streak since falling to No. 9 Creighton on Oct. 26. The Golden Eagles have dropped just seven total sets in conference play this season and just one set in a victory.
Marquette moved back up to No. 18 in Week #11 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.
RPI watch…The Golden Eagles own an RPI of 18 in the latest rankings after entering at No. 13. Fellow BIG EAST school Creighton is No. 16 in the RPI.
Marquette continued to pour in BIG EAST weekly awards with Hope Werch named Offensive Player of the Week and Martha Konovodoff picking up her third Defensive Player of the Week award.
Senior Anna Haak reached the 1,000 career kills milestone on Oct. 26 against Creighton, combining her stats from Miami and Marquette. She became the third Golden Eagles to record 1,000 kills joining redshirt senior Jenna Rosenthal and Allie Barber.
Rosenthal became Marquette's all-time leader in assisted blocks in the match against Georgetown on Sept. 28. She owns 452 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 507 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 1,171 kills. The all-time leader for the Golden Eagles is Theresa Coughlin with 1,733 total kills from 2002-06.
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 rank in the top-10 nationally in four categories: Fourth in aces per set (1.88), fifth in kills per set (14.71), eighth in assists per set (13.69) and ninth in hitting percentage at a .281 clip. In all four categories Marquette is the BIG EAST leader.
Rosenthal and Barber boast stellar hitting percentages at .366 and .360, respectively through the 27 games of the season, helping propel the Golden Eagles to its .281 average combined. The duo ranks first and second in the BIG EAST and are 41^st and 51^st, respectively in the NCAA.
Barber's strong junior season continues as she leads the BIG EAST in kills per set with 4.56, ranking 11^th among NCAA squads with 406 total kills. She is just one of two players in the country hitting above a .350 hitting percentage that also has 400-or more kills on the season. Torrey Van Winden from Cal Poly is hitting .369 and also has 406 total kills.
Marquette has had a player record a double-double on 16 occasions this season. Anna Haak leads the squad with sevendouble-doubles, while Lauren Speckman has recorded four. and Sophomores Sarah Rose and Hope Werch have tallied three and two double-doubles this season, respectively.