Friday, September 13
Normal, Ill.
4:30 P.M. CT
Marquette University
6-1
3
vs
2
University of Central Florida
5-2
1
2
3
4
5
F
Marquette
29
27
23
19
16
3
UCF
27
25
25
25
14
2
No. 7 MU Fends Off rv UCF, 3-2
9/13/2019 7:48:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Martha Konovodoff records a career-best 36 digs
NORMAL, Ill.—The seventh-ranked Marquette volleyball team fought hard and used a total team effort to earn a 3-2 (29-27, 27-25, 23-25, 19-25, 16-14) win over rv UCF on Friday evening in the opening match of the Redbird Classic at Illinois State.
Senior Allie Barber led all hitters with a season-high 27 kills, while junior Hope Werch and freshman Hannah Vanden Berg tallied 16 and 11 kills, respectively. Werch added her second double-double of the season with 13 digs, while senior setter Lauren Speckman also notched her second double-double of the campaign handing out 41 assists with a career-high 19 digs.
Junior libero Martha Konovodoff had a stellar match as she collected a career-high 36 digs and classmate Sarah Rose dished out 28 assists with seven digs.
Defensively, Marquette (6-1) came up with 97 digs, while UCF accumulated 66 and overcame an unusually tough day serving.
UCF (5-2) was paced by McKenna Melville with 21 assists and 12 digs.
After taking a 2-0 lead in the match, playing to extra points in both, the Knights rebounded to force a fifth set. The Golden Eagles struggled and found themselves trailing 10-3 taking a timeout before turning in a 13-4 run to close out the set. Junior Gabbi Martinez checked in to serve as MU trailed, 14-11 and served for a 5-0 run, helping seal the comeback victory.
"Tonight was a gutsy team effort," head coach Ryan Theis said. "Gabbi came in for some timely great serving to help our run and we were able to fight and close it out."
Marquette is back on the court on Saturday, Sept. 14 at 7:30 p.m. central time, taking on No. 14 Illinois.
Senior Allie Barber led all hitters with a season-high 27 kills, while junior Hope Werch and freshman Hannah Vanden Berg tallied 16 and 11 kills, respectively. Werch added her second double-double of the season with 13 digs, while senior setter Lauren Speckman also notched her second double-double of the campaign handing out 41 assists with a career-high 19 digs.
Junior libero Martha Konovodoff had a stellar match as she collected a career-high 36 digs and classmate Sarah Rose dished out 28 assists with seven digs.
Defensively, Marquette (6-1) came up with 97 digs, while UCF accumulated 66 and overcame an unusually tough day serving.
UCF (5-2) was paced by McKenna Melville with 21 assists and 12 digs.
After taking a 2-0 lead in the match, playing to extra points in both, the Knights rebounded to force a fifth set. The Golden Eagles struggled and found themselves trailing 10-3 taking a timeout before turning in a 13-4 run to close out the set. Junior Gabbi Martinez checked in to serve as MU trailed, 14-11 and served for a 5-0 run, helping seal the comeback victory.
"Tonight was a gutsy team effort," head coach Ryan Theis said. "Gabbi came in for some timely great serving to help our run and we were able to fight and close it out."
Marquette is back on the court on Saturday, Sept. 14 at 7:30 p.m. central time, taking on No. 14 Illinois.
Team Stats
MU
UCF
Kills
84
52
Errors
33
18
Attempts
192
177
Hitting %
.266
.192
Points
90.0
76.0
Assists
82
48
Aces
2
10
Blocks
4.0
14.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
27
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
16
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
7
Aces
1
Blocks
1
Players Mentioned
OH
/ Women's Volleyball
L
/ Women's Volleyball
DS
/ Women's Volleyball
S
/ Women's Volleyball
S
/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's VolleyballOH
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