No. 9 Marquette Hosts Georgetown and Villanova this Weekend

MILWAUKEE – The No. 9 Marquette women's volleyball team will host both Georgetown and Villanova at the Al McGuire Center this weekend. The match versus the Hoyas will take place on Friday, Nov. 15 and is slated for 7 p.m. CT. The team will return on Saturday, Nov. 16, for Senior Night to take on the Wildcats at 6 p.m. CT. The Golden Eagles are currently on an eight-match winning streak.

No. 9 Marquette owns an overall record of 23-3 and is 13-1 in BIG EAST play, sitting atop the conference standings. The Golden Eagles are leading the conference offensively with a .279 hitting percentage. The team also leads the NCAA with 14.2 assists per set and ranks third with 14.86 kills per set. Senior Allie Barber leads the conference, individually averaging 4.63 kills per set.

WATCH LIVE/FOLLOW THE ACTION:

Video – https://gomarquette.com/watch/?Live=92&type=Live (Georgetown)
https://gomarquette.com/watch/?Live=93&type=Live (Villanova)

Live Stats – https://gomarquette.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary (Georgetown)
https://gomarquette.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary (Villanova)

PROMOS:

Friday:

- Jordan Shoe Giveaway for five random students who check in on the MU Rewards app

- International Student Night

- Alumni Weekend

Saturday:

- Senior Night

- Ian's Pizza to the first 200 students

- Alumni Weekend

OPPONENTS:

Georgetown (13-15, 3-11): The Hoyas have lost six of their last seven contests, most recently getting swept by Creighton last weekend. The team is led offensively by Iva Vujosevic, who averages 3.57 kills per set. Vusosevic recorded 11 kills the last time these two teams met.
Marquette is 18-4 all-time in the series against Georgetown and hasn't lost a match to the Hoyas since the 2010 season.

Villanova (20-6, 11-3): The Wildcats are on a seven-game winning streak. The team's last loss came on Oct. 18 against Marquette. The offense benefits from Kathleen Johnson, who averages 3.25 kills per set while hitting at a .514 clip.
Marquette is 17-4 all-time in the series against Villanova, including an active four-match winning streak against the Wildcats.

WHAT THE TEAM IS SAYING:

"It is a big weekend ahead. We have some of our alumni coming back, senior night on Saturday, and Allie is one kill away from breaking the all-time kill record. This senior group has done so much for our volleyball program and I hope anyone tied to Marquette can come out and support them"

-Ryan Theis, Head Coach

STORYLINES:

· HISTORIC START: At 21-3 overall Marquette has produced its best record through 24 contests in program history. The Golden Eagles' three losses have come to current No. 3 Baylor, No. 25 Illinois, and No. 14 Creighton.

· AVCA POLL: The Golden Eagles move up to No. 9 this week in the AVCA Coaches' Poll after they entered the poll ranked No. 16 in the preseason. This marks the 26th consecutive week that Marquette has been ranked, dating back to Sept. 3, 2018 and the eighth week of the season that the squad is ranked in the top-10.

· BIG EAST WEEKLY AWARDS: A Golden Eagle once again finds itself on the BIG EAST Honor Roll. Hope Werch was announced by the league office this week after helping the team sweep DePaul, contributing nine kills with a .438 hitting percentage and six service aces. The junior followed that up with a seven-kill performance the following day.

This is not the first time Marquette players have received BIG EAST honors.

Nov. 5: Allie Barber (BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week) and Martha Konovodoff (BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week ); 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 moves to No. 14 in this week's RPI rankings. Friday's opponent Georgetown is ranked at 208, and Sunday's opponent Villanova is ranked at 52.

· NEARING THE RECORD: Senior Allie Barber is currently tied for the record of all-time kills. At 1,733, her first kill on Friday will make her the all-time leader at MU. Marquette Hall of Famer Theresa Coughlin, who played from 2002-05, shares the record with Barber.

· NATIONAL SCENE: The 6-2 offense has worked for the Golden Eagles as the squad is ranked first for assists averaging 14.20 per game. Lauren Speckman is handing out 6.89 assists per set, which is seventh in the BIG EAST, while Claire Mosher averages 5.00.

Marquette is third in the NCAA in kills per set with 14.86, led by Allie Barber at 4.63 per set, which leads the BIG EAST and ranks 15^th in the NCAA. The Golden Eagles are allowing just 11.8 kills per set from opponents.

· EXCLUSIVE COMPANY: Barber is one of just three players in the NCAA that average 4.63 kills per set, while also hitting at a .317 clip or above.

Jordan Thompson, Cincinnati: 6.34 kills/set, .354 hitting percentage

Chichi Ikwuazom, Columbia: 5.46 kills/set, .441 hitting percentage

Allie Barber, Marquette: 4.63 kills/set, .317 hitting percentage

· 20-WIN CAMPAIGN: The Golden Eagles reached 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 286-104 career record with a 141-49 mark at Marquette.

· Theis is the 17th winningest coach in Division I with a .742 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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