No. 11 Marquette Travels to No. 4 Wisconsin Thursday

MILWAUKEE – A rivalry game awaits the newly ranked No. 11 Marquette volleyball team as the Golden Eagles will face No. 4 Wisconsin on Thursday evening at the UW Fieldhouse in Madision.

The game will air live on FS1 with Mike Monaco and Salima Rockwell calling the action.

Marquette (3-0) opened the 2019 season winning the BYU Nike Invitational with victories over Utah Valley, Boise State and then-No. 9 BYU. It was the third victory over a top-10 opponent in program history and just the fourth loss in a five-year span for the Cougars on their home court. Junior Kaitlyn Lines was named tournament MVP as she connected on 3.70 kills per set and hit at a .413 mark. Senior Allie Barber and junior Hope Werch earned all-tournament team honors.

WHERE TO WATCH/FOLLOW THE ACTION
TV: FS1
VIDEO: https://www.btnplus.com/game/marquette-at-wisconsin-on-09052019
LIVE STATS: https://uwbadgers.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary

OPPONENT
NO. 4 WISCONSIN (2-0): Wisconsin also opened 2019 with a perfect weekend sweeping both Florida State and North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Junior Dana Rettke earned Big Ten Player of the Week honors, while Sydney Hilley earned setter of the week accolades. Rettke averaged 5.83 kills per set to open the season connecting for 18 kills against North Carolina. Hilley is dishing out 13.00 assists per set, which leads the Big Ten.

Thursday marks the 21^st meeting between the two teams with the Badgers owning a 20-0 record over Marquette.

WHAT THE TEAM IS SAYING:
"We have a tough schedule with four top-20 opponents and three top-10. We play nine NCAA Tournament teams, which is scheduled on purpose and for once we can say we are an older team and we have a pretty veteran group.

Coming off the Europe trip we were able to get right back into it. Our two transfers (Gwyn Jones, Kaitlyn Lines) were able to get an idea of our offense and defense because they were able to train with us in the two weeks before we went to Europe. With this veteran group we have been able to give people breaks when needed and the energy has been high every day."

"Wisconsin is a really good team and we are looking forward to playing a really high level and difficult match that will push us and make us better all the way throughout the season.
-Ryan Theis, Head Coach

STORYLINES:

Marquette jumped five spots in the Week One AVCA Coaches Poll. It's No. 11 ranking marks the highest rank in program history.
The Golden Eagles earned their third top-10 win in program history on Saturday with a 3-1 win at then-No. 9 BYU. Marquette earned a 3-2 victory over No. 7 Florida in 2014 and a 3-1 win at No. 7 USC in the 2016 opener.
Junior Kaitlyn (KJ) Lines was named BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week after helping lead Marquette in Provo. She connected on 3.70 kills per set, while hitting .413.
Head coach Ryan Theis is in his sixth season at the helm of the Golden Eagles and owns a 266-101 career record with a 122-47 mark at Marquette.
Theis is the 17^th winningest coach in Division I with a .723 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.
For the first time in program history the Golden Eagles will begin the season ranked, checking in at No. 16 in the AVCA preseason coaches poll. Marquette spent every week last season ranked or receiving votes in the poll, finishing with a program-best No. 15 ranking in the final poll of the year.
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 plays a tough non-conference schedule and will face 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. Currently, BIG EAST foe Creighton is ranked No. 23 in the poll. The Golden Eagles will have their first chance to knock off the reigning league champions on Saturday, Oct. 12 in Milwaukee.
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.

Keep up with the Marquette volleyball program through social media by following on Twitter (@MarquetteVB) and Instagram (@MarquetteVB) and `liking' on Facebook (/MarquetteVolleyball).