No. 12 Marquette Sweeps Villanova, 3-0

VILLANOVA, Pa.—The 12^th-ranked Marquette volleyball team made quick work of Villanova and earned a 3-0 ( 25-22, 25-22, 25-19) win over the Wildcats on Friday evening at Jake Nevin Fieldhouse.

The Golden Eagles (16-3, 6-1) had a stellar hitting night as the squad combined to hit .364 against Villanova, one of the BIG EAST's stingiest defenses. MU held the Wildcats to just a .158 clip.

Senior Allie Barber led the Golden Eagles with a match-high 18 kills and hit a blistering .484 percentage, while freshman Hannah Vanden Berg and junior Hope Werch each added nine kills and hit at a .450 and .350 clip, respectively. The duo also added seven digs apiece.

Sophomore Claire Mosher and junior Sarah Rose each dished out 24 and 15 assists, respectively, while junior libero Martha Konovodoff collected 12 digs.

"This was a great way to start the four-match road swing," head coach Ryan Theis said. "We made some really timely plays throughout the match, which helped and I'm really happy for this group. We haven't been able to walk away from Villanova with a lot of 3-0 wins. I thought Claire and Sarah were very good, you can't hit a percentage like we did without the setters having a good night."

Marquette and Villanova stayed close in the first set and were tied at 19 before the Golden Eagles used a 6-3 run and .367 hitting as a team to close out the frame and take an early lead in the match. MU won the second set with an identical 25-22 score and opened the third set with a swift 3-0 lead before 'Nova responded. After a 9-9 tie, the Golden Eagles went on a 10-3 run with five kills from Barber in that stretch. Though the Wildcats staved off set point three times, Werch smashed a kill to end the set with a 25-19 win and secured MU's ninth sweep of the season.

For the Wildcats, (13-6, 4-3) Mallory Potts connected on eight kills, while Regan Lough collected 11 digs.

Marquette remains out east and will travel to Georgetown on Saturday, Oct. 19. First serve is set for 4 p.m. CT.