Volleyball tops Villanova, 3-1, on Senior Night

MILWAUKEE – Allie Barber had 20 kills as the Marquette University women's volleyball team picked up a 3-1 victory over Villanova (23-25, 26-24, 25-18, 25-19) on Senior Night at the Al McGuire Center on Saturday.

Hope Werch hit .387 in the win with 16 kills and added 14 digs and two blocks for the Golden Eagles (24-4, 15-1 BIG EAST) who hit .256 (62-21-160) as a team. The Wildcats (20-8, 11-5 BIG EAST) hit .218 (49-17-147) and were led by four players with double-digit kills, topped by Mallory Potts with 12.

Martha Konovodoff had 21 digs for MU, while senior Speckman notched a double-double of 28 assists and 15 digs.

The Wildcats claimed the opening set, 25-23, despite being outhit by the Golden Eagles, .256 to .239. A Lauren Speckman ace pulled the frame even at 22, but VU took the next two points after a Wildcat timeout and closed the stanza on an Allie Olsonoski kill.

Marquette fought back to square the match heading into the intermission with a 26-24 victory in the second. The Golden Eagles posted the first four points of the frame but needed the final two following a timeout at 24-24 for the win. An Olsonoski service ace put MU at set-point, 24-22, before back-to-back kills from the Wildcats. Marquette, which hit .271 (18-5-48), ended the frame with a kill from Gwyn Jones and a Hannah Vanden Berg block.

Trailing 10-8 in the third, the Golden Eagles reeled off a 7-0 run to put themselves up 15-10 midway through the frame and held on for a 25-18 victory. Barber posted seven kills, Konovodoff had nine digs and MU limited the Wildcats to a sub-.200 hitting percentage.

Marquette, which now leads the all-time series against Villanova, 18-4, claimed the match with a 25-19 victory in the fourth set after rallying from an early 8-4 deficit.

Marquette honored its four-player senior class of Allie Barber, Madeline Mosher, Lauren Speckman and Gwyn Jones prior to the match.

The Golden Eagles resume regular season action on Friday, Nov. 22 at Creighton, the squad that handed MU its lone loss in conference play on Oct. 12 at the Al McGuire Center.