No. 10 MU Hosts Xavier and Travels to Butler this Weekend

MILWAUKEE – The Marquette women's volleyball team returns home after a four-game road stretch, hosting Xavier on Friday, November 1 and then returns to the road to face Butler on Sunday, November 3. The Golden Eagles are ranked 10th and are coming off a four-game winning streak on the road.
Friday's match is slated for 7 p.m. CT and will stream live on GoMarquette.com, while Sunday's match will stream on Butler's YouTube page.
Overall, Marquette owns a 19-3 record and is 9-1 in BIG EAST play, second in the conference. Continuing to lead the BIG EAST offensively, the Golden Eagles own a .274 hitting percentage, an average of 14.19 assists per set and 14.80 kills per set. Senior Allie Barber leads the squad with 4.69 kills per set, which is 11^th in the NCAA, while junior Hope Werch leads the BIG EAST with 0.46 service aces per set.

WATCH LIVE/FOLLOW THE ACTION:
Video – https://gomarquette.com/watch/?Live=90&type=Live (Xavier) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB3T1bvKMHAbX8GBpo2ZAdQ/featured (Butler)
Live Stats –https://gomarquette.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary (Xavier) http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=274537 (Butler)

PROMOS:
Friday: Halloween Costume Contest. Don't miss a second chance to wear your Halloween costume to the Al! There will be three divisions: adult, student and child.
Students can enter a raffle to win four tickets to the Chainsmokers at Fiserv Forum.

OPPONENTS

XAVIER (8-12, 5-5): The Musketeers are coming off a 3-2 comeback win against Georgetown, and a 3-0 loss to Villanova. Jayda Carlton leads the team with 89.0 blocks, ranking first with 1.31 blocks per set and seventh hitting a .293 clip in the BIG EAST. Madi Kutruff is ranked eighth in the BIG EAST with 3.81 digs per set. As a team, Xavier leads the BIG EAST in blocks, with 151 total for the season and an average of 2.64 per set.

Lauren Hanlon was named as the BIG EAST Freshman of the Week for the Musketeers as averaged a team-high 11.5 kills per set this past weekend.

The Golden Eagles are 15-9 all-time in the series against the Musketeers and won the first meeting in Cincinnati, 3-1.

BUTLER (9-13, 6-4): The Bulldogs are coming off a weekend at home, splitting with a 3-2 loss against Villanova and a 3-0 victory over Georgetown. Leading the team in digs is Elizabeth LaBue with 423, averaging 4.86 per set. Megan Ramseyer leads in assists per game, dishing out 8.8 per game.

LaBue repeated this week as the BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week, averaging 5.88 digs per set after finishing the weekend 1-1.

Marquette is 15-7 all-time in series against Butler and swept the Bulldogs in Milwaukee earlier this season.

WHAT THE TEAM IS SAYING:
"I think we are going to play two very engaged teams this weekend. Both teams are fighting for a spot in the conference tournament, as are we.
Xavier's offense speed can give you headaches if you let them get into rhythm. Butler's defense is second in the league and they will make you earn every kill."
-Ryan Theis, Head Coach

STORYLINES:

· HISTORIC START: At 19-3 overall Marquette has produced its best record through 22 contests in program history. The Golden Eagles' three losses have come to current No. 3 Baylor, No. 19 Illinois, and No. 9 Creighton.
· AVCA POLL: The Golden Eagles move up one spot to No. 10 this week in the AVCA Coaches' Poll after they entered the poll ranked No. 16 in the preseason. This marks the 24th consecutive week that Marquette has been ranked, dating back to Sept. 3, 2018 and the sixth week of the season that the squad is ranked in the top-10.
· Fellow BIG EAST school Creighton is No. 9 in the poll this week, joining MU in the top-10. This is the first time since December 5, 2005 that the BIG EAST Conference has two top-10 teams simultaneously. Back then, it was No. 7 Louisville and No. 9 Notre Dame and neither team remains in the BIG EAST.
· BIG EAST WEEKLY AWARDS: Marquette has earned multiple weekly accolades this season.
Oct. 29: Allie Barber (BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week) and Hope Werch (Honor Roll); Oct. 22: Allie Barber (BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week); Oct.17: Allie Barber (BIG EAST Honor Roll); Oct. 15: Allie Barber (BIG EAST Honor Roll); 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).
· BARBER NAMED SENIOR CLASS AWARD FINALIST: Senior Allie Barber was selected as one of 10 finalists for the 2019 Volleyball Senior CLASS Award. Nationwide fan voting is open through Dec. 2. Votes will be combined with media and Division I head coaches' votes to determine the winner. Vote for Allie at: http://www.seniorclassaward.com/vote/volleyball_2019/
· RPI WATCH: Marquette stays at No. 13 in this week's RPI rankings. Friday's opponent Xavier is ranked at 157 and Sunday's opponent Butler clocks in at 178.
· NEARING THE RECORD: Allie Barber currently ranks third all-time on Marquette's kill list. At 1,682 career kills, she is just 52 kills away from becoming the all-time kills leader. Marquette Hall of Famer Theresa Coughlin currently holds the record with 1,733 kills. Coughlin played at Marquette from 2002-05.
· NATIONAL SCENE: The 6-2 offense has worked for the Golden Eagles as the squad is ranked first for assists averaging 14.18 per game. Lauren Speckman is handing out 6.91 assists per set, which is eighth in the BIG EAST, while Sarah Rose averages 4.96.
Marquette is second in the NCAA in kills per set with 14.81, led by Allie Barber at 4.69 per set, which leads the BIG EAST and ranks ninth in the NCAA. The Golden Eagles are allowing just 11.83 kills per set from opponents.
· EXCLUSIVE COMPANY: Barber is one of just four players in the NCAA that average 4.69 kills per set, while also hitting at a .316 clip or above.
Jordan Thompson, Cincinnati: 6.24 kills/set, .348 hitting percentage
Chichi Ikwuazom, Columbia: 5.44 kills/set, .447 hitting percentage
Kylie Kuyava-Deberg, Missouri: 5.02 kills/set, .316 hitting percentage
Allie Barber, Marquette: 4.69 kills/set, .316 hitting percentage
· 20-WIN CAMPAIGN: The Golden Eagles are just one win away from their ninth consecutive 20-win season. MU recorded a program-record 28 victories in 2018.
· 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 ever 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 282-104 career record with a 137-49 mark at Marquette.
· Theis is the 17th winningest coach in Division I with a .728 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 15th 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. BIG EAST foe Creighton is ranked No. 11 in the poll.
· 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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