10th Ranked Volleyball Heads to Xavier on Wednesday

MILWAUKEE – The Marquette women's volleyball team heads out on its first BIG EAST road trip of the season for a mid-day matinee on Wednesday, Oct. 2 at 11 a.m. CT. The 10^th ranked Golden Eagles are looking for their eighth straight victory and have won 18 of the previous 20 sets, while remaining ranked in the top-10 for a fourth consecutive week.

Senior Allie Barber was named BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week after helping lead MU to a 3-0 BIG EAST start, while Hope Werch was chosen to the weekly honor roll. Barber averaged 4.50 kills per set last week and Werch put on a defensive show collecting 4.14 digs.

Barber ranks 10^th in the country with 4.70 kills per set helping Marquette to a combined 14.88 per set, ranking second in the NCAA to just Minnesota. The Golden Eagles are also leaders in the country dishing out 14.23 assists per set, which is second as Lauren Speckman and Sarah Rose split setting duties at 7.00 and 5.21 assists, respectively.

WATCH LIVE/FOLLOW THE ACTION:
Video - http://bit.ly/XUHomeStream
Live Stats - http://bit.ly/XUHomeStats

OPPONENT
XAVIER (4-7, 1-0): Xavier opened BIG EAST play with one match last week and pulled out a 3-2 victory at DePaul. The Musketeers rank third in the league in blocks with 2.17 per set, led by Jayda Carlton at 1.19 blocks per frame, the BIG EAST leader. Lauren Hanlon leads the Musketeers with 2.83 kills per set, ranking 10^th overall in conference standings, while Alyssa Overbeck and MaryAnn O'Toole are ranked seventh and ninth, respectively in the BIG EAST in digs.

Marquette leads the all-time series with Xavier, 13-9, including a season sweep over the Musketeers in 2018.

WHAT THE TEAM IS SAYING:
"We focused on these four matches in seven days with the payoff being the upcoming weekend off. We are excited to take this trip to Xavier at 3-0 and hope to return with a 4-0 record heading into our break."

-Ryan Theis, head coach

STORYLINES:

HISTORIC START: At 13-2 overall Marquette is off to its best start since the 1997 campaign. The two losses have come to current No. 1 Baylor and current No. 18 Illinois.
AVCA POLL: The Golden Eagles remain at No. 10 this week in the AVCA Coaches' Poll and will spend a fourth straight week in the top1-0. Marquette entered the poll ranked No. 16 in the preseason.
BIG EAST WEEKLY AWARDS: Marquette has had a player receive BIG EAST honors every week this season.
Oct. 1: Allie Barber (Offensive Player of the Week) and Hope Werch (Honor Roll); Sept. 24: Allie Barber and Martha Konovodoff (Honor Roll); Sept. 16: Allie Barber (Offensive Player of the Week); Sept. 9: Hope Werch (Honor Roll); Sept. 3: Kaitlyn Lines (Offensive Player of the Week).
NATIONAL SCENE: The 6-2 offense has worked for the Golden Eagles as the squad ranks second in the NCAA 14.23 assists per set, just behind national leader Minnesota (14.55). Setters Lauren Speckman and Sarah Rose are handing out 7.00 assists and 5.21 assists per set, respectively with Speckman ranking eighth in the BIG EAST.
Marquette also ranks second in the NCAA in kills per set with 14.88, led by Allie Barber at 4.70 per set, which leads the BIG EAST and ranks 10^th in the NCAA. The Golden Eagles are allowing just 11.71 kills set from opponents.
TOP-10 VICTORIES: The Golden Eagles have four top-10 wins in program history and have earned two top-15 road wins this season. MU defeated then- No. 4 Wisconsin on Sept. 5 for the first time in program history, which marked the highest-ranked team that Marquette has defeated. The squad also topped then- No. 13 BYU on Aug. 31. The Golden Eagles' other top-10 wins came in a 3-2 victory over No. 7 Florida in 2014 and a 3-1 win at No. 7 USC in the 2016 opener.
THEIS STATS: Head coach Ryan Theis is in his sixth season at the helm of the Golden Eagles and owns a 276-103 career record with a 131-48 mark at Marquette.
Theis is the 17^th winningest coach in Division I with a .723 percentage through 11 seasons as a head coach. He has never had a season with fewer than 21 wins and the 28 victories for Marquette in 2018 was a career best in victories for Theis as head coach.
Marquette is 24-20 in season openers and 6-0 in the Ryan Theis era.
BIG EAST OPENERS: The Golden Eagles opened their 15^th season of BIG EAST competition on Sept. 25 and own an 10-5 record in league lidlifters, including a 4-2 mark under Ryan Theis.
OTHER NOTABLES:
The Golden Eagles were picked to win the BIG EAST in the 2019 preseason coaches' poll, earning eight first-place votes, which is the second consecutive season that Marquette was selected first in preseason.
Marquette played a tough non-conference schedule and faced four ranked opponents and two that are receiving votes in the AVCA preseason coaches' poll beginning at No. 9 BYU. MU also travels to No. 4 Wisconsin (Sept. 5), hosts No. 17 Baylor (Sept. 8) and takes on No. 6 Illinois (Sept. 15 at Illinois State). UCF (Sept. 13) and Northern Iowa (Sept. 21) are receiving votes in the poll. Currently, BIG EAST foe Creighton is ranked No. 23 in the poll. The Golden Eagles will have their first chance to knock off the reigning league champions on Saturday, Oct. 12 in Milwaukee.
Senior Allie Barber was chosen as the BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year for the second straight season, while juniors Hope Werch and Martha Konovodoff were selected to the preseason squad.
Marquette added two transfers and two freshmen to the squad for the 2019 season. Gwyn Jones joins the Golden Eagles as a senior from Auburn, while Kaitlyn (KJ) Lines is a junior transferring from Pacific. Claire Nuessmeier (St. Peter, Minn.) and Hannah Vanden Berg (Little Chute, Wis.) round out the squad as freshmen.

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