Volleyball advances to BIG EAST Final with sweep of UConn

Box Score (PDF)

OMAHA, Nebraska – The No. 14 Marquette University women's volleyball team claimed a 25-16, 25-19, 25-16 sweep of UConn on Friday afternoon at D.J. Sokol Arena in the semifinals of the 2022 BIG EAST Conference Women's Volleyball Championship presented by JEEP.

The Golden Eagles (27-2) hit .352 in their third sweep of the season over the Huskies (17-14) and were led by 13 kills from junior outside hitter Aubrey Hamilton. She was one of five MU players with at least six kills and added five blocks, six digs and a service ace.

Middle blocker Carsen Murray hit .667 with six kills on nine swings along with five blocks. Ella Foti also hit .500 with seven kills, a pair of blocks and an ace.

UConn hit .130 and was led by nine kills from Caylee Parker. Libero Karly Berland paced the Huskies with a match-high 14 digs.

NOTABLE:

The Golden Eagles are 13-13 all-time in the BIG EAST Championship.
Marquette has now advanced to the title matchup on eight occasions but is just 1-6 in the previous seven matchups. MU won its lone tournament title in 2013 over Creighton in Omaha.
MU is now 5-3 in the five years when the tournament has been played at D.J. Sokol Arena (2013. 2015, 2018, 2020-21, 2022).
The Golden Eagles earned the tournament's top seed after sweeping then-No. 11 Creighton on Saturday to stake a share of the league's regular season title for the second time in as many years. MU won the tiebreaker over the Bluejays by virtue of their 5-3 set record against CU this season.
MU hit .387 (17-5-31) to take the opening set, 25-16, after leading by as many as nine points. Hamilton hit .571 in the first with five kills, three digs and a pair of blocks.
MU won the second set, 25-19, by hitting .308 and pulled away after the Huskies had pulled within one, 18-17.
Marquette is 12-3 all-time against UConn, including three sweeps this season. The Golden Eagles have won the last nine matchups in the series.
Murray entered the weekend leading the BIG EAST and sixth nationally in hitting percentage (.427).
The Huskies tied with St. John's and Butler for fourth in the league at 10-8 and strung together an eight-match win streak from Oct. 8-Nov. 4. They beat fourth-seeded St. John's in five sets on Wednesday in the quarterfinals.
UConn is led by fourth-year head coach Ellen Herman-Kimball, who played under MU head coach Ryan Theis at Ohio.
Current MU assistant coach Abby Gilleland joined the MU staff this year from UConn, while 2021 MU volunteer assistant coach Peter Netisingha switched benches the opposite direction and is in his first season in Storrs.

UP NEXT: The Golden Eagles wll face No. 15 Creighton in the championship match on Saturday at 5 p.m. Central time. The contest is set to air live on FS2.

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).