No. 10 Marquette Faces DePaul in a Double Header this Weekend

MILWAUKEE – The No.10 Marquette women's volleyball team will host the DePaul Blue Demons this Friday, Nov. 8, before hitting the road on Saturday, Nov. 9 to face the Blue Demons in Chicago, Ill. The Golden Eagles are currently on a six-match winning streak.
Friday's match is slated for 7 p.m. CT and will stream live on GoMarquette.com, while Saturday is set for 6 p.m. CT and will stream live on DePaulBlueDemons.com
No. 10 Marquette owns an overall record of 21-3 and is 11-1 in BIG EAST play and sits second in the conference standings. The Golden Eagles are leading the conference offensively, owning a .287 hitting percentage, averaging 13.7 assists per set and 15 kills per set. Senior Allie Barber ranks first in the conference, averaging 4.69 kills per set, while the squad ranks 11^th in the NCAA.

WATCH LIVE/FOLLOW THE ACTION:
Video – https://gomarquette.com/watch/?Live=91&type=Live (Home)
https://depaulbluedemons.com/watch/?Archive=1554&type=Live (Road)
Live Stats – https://gomarquette.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary (Home)
https://depaulbluedemons.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary (Road)

PROMOS:
Friday: Jimmy John's student give away for the first 200 students in attendance.

OPPONENTS:

DEPAUL (11-13, 3-9): The Blue Demons are coming off a 2-3 loss in Chicago against Butler and a 3-1 loss in Cincinnati against Xavier. Donna Brown leads the Blue Demons with a .372 hitting percentage, sitting second in BIG EAST offensively.
Marquette is 33-29 all-time in the series against DePaul and have won the last 18 matches against the Blue Demons.

WHAT THE TEAM IS SAYING:
"The idea of playing a team on back-to-back days is tricky. DePaul's middles can really do some damage if you aren't playing sharp defensively. We will have to take care on our side and keep a lot of pressure on them. It is easier to do that three times, rather than six times.
-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. 21 Illinois, and No. 9 Creighton.
· AVCA POLL: The Golden Eagles remain at the No. 10 this week in the AVCA Coaches' Poll after they entered the poll ranked No. 16 in the preseason. This marks the 25th consecutive week that Marquette has been ranked, dating back to Sept. 3, 2018 and the seventh week of the season that the squad is ranked in the top-10.
· Fellow BIG EAST school Creighton remains at No. 9 in the coaches poll for the second straight week. This is still the second 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: Two Golden Eagles earned BIG EAST honors this week. Allie Barber was named Offensive Player of the Week after leading the BIG EAST with 4.67 kills per set in six sets of competition. Martha Konovodoff is the BIG EAST's Defensive Player of the Week with an average of 5.17 digs per set during the seven-day span.
This is not the first time Marquette players have received BIG EAST honors.
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 up to No. 12 in this week's RPI rankings. Friday's opponent DePaul is ranked at 218.
· NEARING THE RECORD: Allie Barber currently ranks third all-time on Marquette's kill list. At 1,710 career kills, she is just 24 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 14.37 per game. Lauren Speckman is handing out 6.99 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 11.8 kills per set from opponents.
· EXCLUSIVE COMPANY: Barber is one of just three players in the NCAA that average 4.69 kills per set, while also hitting at a .321 clip or above.
Jordan Thompson, Cincinnati: 6.24 kills/set, .348 hitting percentage
Chichi Ikwuazom, Columbia: 5.44 kills/set, .447 hitting percentage
Allie Barber, Marquette: 4.69 kills/set, .321 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 284-104 career record with a 139-49 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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