Volleyball heads east to face Seton Hall and St. John's

Match Notes (PDF)

MILWAUKEE – The Marquette University women's volleyball team heads to the East Coast this weekend to begin a four-match road swing at Seton Hall on Friday and at St. John's on Saturday.

Friday's match at Walsh Gymnasium in South Orange, New Jersey against the Pirates is slated for 5 p.m. Central time and will air live on FloSports. Saturday's 3 p.m. CT contest against the Red Storm at Carnesecca Arena will also be available through FloSports.

Following this weekend's contests, MU closes out the road portion of its regular season schedule next weekend at Xavier and Butler, the only teams Marquette has yet to face in league play this season.

MARQUETTE (19-4, 10-2 BIG EAST): The Golden Eagles went 1-1 last weekend with a sweep of Providence and a 3-1 loss to No. 24 Creighton, but remain in a tie for first in the BIG EAST standings with the Bluejays. Marquette also moved up to 14th in the NCAA's latest RPI ranking, three spots behind CU.

Outside hitter Hope Werch broke Christine Norgle's (1985-88) 33-year old Marquette service ace record with three against the Friars on Saturday. Werch, the only player in Marquette history with over 1,000 kills, 1,000 digs and 150 service aces, leads MU in conference play with 123 kills (3.00 per set), 24 service aces (0.59/set) and 154.0 points.

Graduate student Taylor Wolf also earned her fifth weekly honor of the season on Monday for her play over the weekend. She recorded her NCAA-leading sixth triple-double of the season on Friday against the Jays and hit a combined .302 for the Golden Eagles, while leading the team in assists (5.57 per set) and ranking second in digs (3.43/set). Wolf led MU with 13 kills against No. 24 Creighton on Friday night and added 19 digs and a pair of blocks. In Saturday's win over Providence, Wolf posted three service aces and a team-high 20 assists.

SETON HALL (12-14, 4-8 BIG EAST): The Pirates enter Friday's match coming off a 3-1 victory over Georgetown in Washington, D.C. SHU sits near the bottom of the BIG EAST standings, having won just four BIG EAST contests this season.

Perri Lucas paces her squad with 243 kills, while Taylor Jakubowski dishes out 4.82 assists per set. Amanda Rachwal stands near the top of the conference in both hitting percentage (.339) and blocks (114), and middle counterpart Madison Frusha (.292, 106 blocks) is also near the top of the leaderboard.

SERIES WITH SETON HALL: MU holds the all-time edge over the Pirates 19-5, boasting a 10-match winning streak. The Golden Eagles won the matchup earlier this year at the Al McGuire Center, a 3-1 victory on Oct. 16.

ST. JOHN'S (14-12, 5-7 BIG EAST): St. John's has gone through an up-and-down 2021 season, having beaten No. 16 Creighton to start October, but dropping recent contests to Providence, Butler and DePaul. The Johnnies were projected to finish third in conference, but currently sit in the bottom half of the standings.

Right side hitter Rachele Rastelli leads the conference in kills (439, 4.48 per set), while freshman Giorgia Walther contributes 2.66 per set. Middle blocker Ariadni Kathariou is coming off a weekend where she totaled 24 blocks in two matches, which puts her at the top of the conference (118).

SERIES WITH ST. JOHN'S: The Golden Eagles are 21-7 all-time against St. John's, with the most recent contest being a MU sweep on Oct. 15. Marquette has only lost at Carnesecca Arena once in history, that defeat coming in Nov. of 2015.

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