No. 10 MU Returns Home to Host Providence and No. 13 Creighton

MILWAUKEE – The Marquette women's volleyball team returns after a weekend off and is set to host Providence on Friday, Oct. 11 before taking on No. 13 Creighton on Saturday, Oct. 12. The 10^th ranked Golden Eagles are looking for their ninth straight victory and have won 21 of the previous 24 sets, while remaining ranked in the top-10 for a fifth consecutive week.

Friday's match will begin at 7 p.m. CT and stream live and for free on GoMarquette.com, while Saturday's match will air on the BIG EAST Digital Network with Bob Brainerd calling the action from the Al McGuire Center. The BEDN can be accessed through YouTube, Caffeine.tv or Twitter.

The Golden Eagles own a 14-2 record overall and have opened BIG EAST play at 4-0. MU played just one match last week in a 3-1 victory at Xavier. Senior Allie Barber continues to lead Marquette and the BIG EAST with 4.65 kills per set, which ranks 11^th in the NCAA.

WATCH LIVE/FOLLOW THE ACTION:
Video – (Providence) https://gomarquette.com/watch/?Live=88&type=Live
              (Creighton)
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ike29-VD2D4
             Twitter: https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1eaJbAwMjaBGX
             Caffeine: https://www.caffeine.tv/bedn2

Live Stats - https://gomarquette.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary

PROMOS:
Friday: Men's Basketball Student VIP Experience Giveaway, which includes four guaranteed front row seats to the Purdue game, ability to choose two songs from DJ Snack Daddy and an automatic contestant in a promotion)

Saturday: Girl Scout Day with a pre-match clinic; Camper Reunion match; Qdoba handed out to the first 150 students; men's basketball student section shirt distribution

OPPONENTS

PROVIDENCE (5-12, 0-4): The Friars are still looking for their first BIG EAST win of 2019 and have dropped eight in-a-row. Jennifer Leitman leads Providence with 3.16 kills per set, which ranks fifth overall in the BIG EAST. The Friars setter Allison Barber is dishing out 8.71 assists per set, which is fifth in the league, while Jenae Alderson is second in the conference with a .354 hitting percentage.

Marquette is 11-0 in the all-time series with the Friars and has not dropped a set to PC.

CREIGHTON (11-3, 4-0): The Bluejays will face DePaul on Friday night prior to traveling to Milwaukee. Currently Creighton is tied with the Golden Eagles for first place in the BIG EAST standings. Freshman Keely Davis has come on as a strong presence and has claimed the BIG EAST Freshman of the Week award for five straight weeks and leads Creighton with 2.88 kills per set, which is eighth in the BIG EAST. As a team, the Bluejays combine to rank third in hitting percentage (.249), assists (12.70) and kills (13.70).

Creighton leads the all-time series 17-4, including winning all three meetings last season.

WHAT THE TEAM IS SAYING:
On Providence…
"Providence runs more variety in its offense than most teams we face. You have to try and identify it early and get in front of them."

On Creighton…
"They put a lot of pressure on you from the service line. They are a high-level passing and digging team so your defense is stressed play after play. Right now they have the best offensive numbers in the league so we are going to have to slow someone down."

-Ryan Theis, head coach

STORYLINES:

HISTORIC START: At 14-2 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 fifth-straight week in the top-10. Marquette entered the poll ranked No. 16 in the preseason.
BIG EAST WEEKLY AWARDS: Marquette has earned multiple weekly accolades 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).
BARBER NAMED SENIOR CLASS CANDIDATE: Senior Allie Barber was selected as one of 30 candidates for the 2019 Volleyball Senior CLASS Award. Midway through the season 10 finalists will be selected and go on to the national ballot.
RPI WATCH: The first RPI of the season was unveiled on Monday and Marquette is No. 12. Saturday's opponent Creighton is next in the BIG EAST at No. 18. Villanova (No. 60) and St. John's (No. 90) are the other league schools in the top-100.
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 (14.41). Setters Lauren Speckman and Sarah Rose are handing out 7.00 assists and 5.19 assists per set, respectively with Speckman ranking eighth in the BIG EAST.
Marquette is third in the NCAA in kills per set with 14.83, led by Allie Barber at 4.65 per set, which leads the BIG EAST and ranks 11^th in the NCAA. The Golden Eagles are allowing just 11.68 kills set from opponents.
Barber is one of just six players in the NCAA to average over 4.65 kills per set, while hitting above .285.
CLIMBING THE RANKS: Allie Barber currently ranks third all-time on Marquette's kill list. At 1,581 career kills, she is just 153 kills away from becoming the all-time kills leader.
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 277-103 career record with a 132-48 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.

Keep up with the Marquette volleyball program through social media by following on Twitter (@MarquetteVB) and Instagram (@MarquetteVB) and `liking' on Facebook (/MarquetteVolleyball).