No. 2 Seed MU Faces No. 3 Villanova Friday in BIG EAST Championship

MILWAUKEE-- The BIG EAST regular season has come to an end as the 12^th ranked Marquette women's volleyball team prepares to host the BIG EAST tournament Friday Nov. 29 and Saturday, Nov. 30. The No. 2 seed Golden Eagles take on No. 3 Villanova on Friday at 2:30 p.m. CT in the semifinals with the winner moving on to face the winner of No. 1 Creighton vs. No. 4 St. John's on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. CT in the tournament final.

The BIG EAST Digital network will carry the semifinal, while FS2 will air the final. Bob Brainerd will have play-by-play duties, Michelle Griffin-Wenzel will be the analyst with Piper Shaw as the sideline reporter for each game this weekend.

MU owns an overall record of 26-4 and the Golden Eagles lead the conference in hitting percentage (.276), kills (14.81) and assists (14.10). Leading the conference in kills is senior Allie Barber, averaging 4.64 kills per set and sits 17th in the NCAA with 487 kills. The standout senior has also been named BIG EAST Player of the Year.

OPPONENTS:
Villanova (22-8, 13-5 BIG EAST): The Wildcats have only taken one set against Marquette this season but are riding a two-game winning streak. Sitting at third place in the BIG EAST, the team is led by freshman Kathleen Johnson who is averaging 2.96 kills per set at a .435 clip. Additionally, senior Allie Olsonoski has most recently been named to BIG EAST weekly honor roll after a 20-block performance last weekend.

St. John's (20-11, 11-6 BIG EAST): Should the Golden Eagles face the Red Storm, they will battle a team that has won six of its last seven, the only loss coming from the last regular season game against Villanova. Sophomore Efrosini Alexakou was the team's most recent player to find herself on the BIG EAST weekly honor roll after posting 12 kills, eight digs, two blocks and a .391 hitting percentage in a three-set sweep over Georgetown.

Creighton (24-4, 17-1 BIG EAST): The Bluejays have only lost one conference game this season and sit atop the BIG EAST standings. Creighton jumped from 12^th to 10^th in the national rankings after defeating the Golden Eagles last week 3-1 and made a complete sweep of the BIG EAST weekly honors with Jaela Zimmerman being named Offensive Player of the Week, Naomi Hickman as Defensive Player of the Week, and Keely Davis as Freshman of the Week.

WHAT THE TEAM IS SAYING:
On hosting the BIG EAST Tournament…
"We work hard in the regular season to be in a position to host these things. It will be nice to be at home. We hope the local volleyball community will show up to see some great volleyball at the Al."
-Ryan Theis, Head Coach

STORYLINES:
· BIG EAST HONORS: The league office announced the 2019 season awards and MU senior Allie Barber was tabbed as BIG EAST Player of the Year, for the second time in her career. She was a unanimous selection by the BIG EAST coaches and is just the fourth player in 30 years to repeat the honor. Barber was also named to the All-BIG EAST team along with Martha Konovodoff and Hope Werch, while Hannah Vanden Berg was selected to the newly created All-BIG EAST freshman squad.
· HISTORIC START: At 26-4 overall Marquette is nearing its program-record 28 wins from last season. The Golden Eagles' four losses have come to current No. 1 Baylor, No. 24 Illinois, and No. 10 Creighton.
· TOURNAMENT TEAMS: The teams for the 2019 BIG EAST Championship presented by Jeep are set. Creighton comes in at No. 1 with Marquette right behind at No. 2. Villanova comes in as the No. 3 seed while St. John's will be the No. 4 seed.
· AVCA POLL: The Golden Eagles move to No. 12 this week in the AVCA Coaches' Poll after they entered the poll ranked No. 16 in the preseason. This marks the 28^th consecutive week that Marquette has been ranked, dating back to Sept. 3, 2018.
· BIG EAST WEEKLY AWARDS: Marquette junior Hope Werch finds herself on the BIG EAST Honor Roll for the third week in a row. Werch led the Golden Eagles with 3.39 kills per set and 3.00 digs per set in games against Creighton and Providence last weekend. Werch also tallied 12 kills with two services aces and 10 digs against Creighton.
This is not the first time Marquette players have received BIG EAST honors.
Nov. 19: Hope Werch (BIG EAST Honor Roll) and Allie Barber (BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week); Nov. 12: Hope Werch (BIG EAST Honor Roll); 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. 12 in this week's RPI rankings. Friday's opponent Villanova ranks 61^st.
· BREAKING THE RECORD: Senior Allie Barber broke the all-time kills record in a 22-kill performance against Georgetown on Nov. 15. Barber passed Marquette Hall of Famer Theresa Coughlin, who played from 2002-05, and had 1,733 career kills. Currently owning 1,800 kills, Barber looks to bolster the record before the end of the season and graduating from Marquette.