No. 11 MU Sweeps Syracuse in Home Opener

MILWAUKEE—The 11^th ranked Marquette volleyball team made quick work of Syracuse in Saturday's homeopener as the Golden Eagles swept the Orange, 3-0 (25-12, 25-23, 25-18).

The Golden Eagles (5-0) are off to their best start in 27 years, since the 1992 squad opened with a 4-0 record.

Marquette was led by senior Allie Barber with a match-high 15 kills and a .433 clip, while junior Elizabeth Orf had a big day at the net with nine kills, a stellar .467 clip and three blocks. Classmates Kaitlyn Lines and Hope Werch each added seven kills with Werch recording 12 digs. Libero Matha Konovodoff continued her excellent defense with 19 digs in the match.

Setter duo Lauren Speckman and Sarah Rose dished out 21 and 19 assists, respectively as Rose also added seven digs to her stat line.

"We are an older team, we know what we are doing so when we get into this environment we know we can rely on each other, so the pressure in the second and third set we knew we could handle," Speckman said.

Syracuse (0-2) put pressure on the Golden Eagles in sets two and three, but MU was able to keep composed en route to the victory. Polina Shemanova totaled 11 digs, while Aliah Bowlian collected 11 digs.

The Golden Eagles combined to hit .343 in the match, including a blistering .586 mark in the first frame with 17 team kills and zero errors. MU held Syracuse to a .147 hitting percentage on the day.

The Golden Eagles are back in action on Sunday, Sept. 8 at 1 p.m. CT hosting No. 17 Baylor. The game will stream for free on GoMarquette.com.