No. 24 Volleyball falls, 3-1, at No. 6 Wisconsin

Box Score (PDF)

MILWAUKEE – The No. 24 Marquette University women's volleyball team fell to No. 6 Wisconsin, 3-1, on Friday evening at UW Field House, 25-21, 23-25, 25-21, 25-21.

Sophomore outside hitter Jenna Reitsma posted a career-high 15 kills to lead the Golden Eagles (2-1), who were playing in Madison for the first time since upsetting then-No. 4 Wisconsin in 2019.

"I love our ability to compete," MU head coach Ryan Theis said. "With this group we talked about to get past a second round of an NCAA tournament, this is the kind of team that you are probably going to have to beat. It's not going to be easy to get to round two. Now we still have to get to round one, and we know that, but what it takes to beat these guys is sustained good play longer than we did. Any time we let the foot off the gas, from the service line or first or second touch perspective, all of a sudden Wisconsin had a lead. I hope we learned a valuable lesson that sustaining good play for longer is going to be needed to win these against really good teams."

Marquette had an eight-point lead in the third set looking to take the match advantage, but could not hold off a charging Badgers squad in front of their home crowd.

UW (2-1) closed the third on a 13-3 run and took the fourth set, 25-21, while hitting .333. MU pulled the final frame within two, 22-20, after a nine-point deficit, but could not close the gap after losing a late challenge to put UW up 23-20.

Junior middle blocker Devyn Robinson led the Badgers, who hit .256, with 14 kills.

NOTABLE:

The Badgers went 31-3 last fall and defeated Nebraska in five sets to win their first national championship. Their NCAA Championship banner was unveiled prior to Friday's match.
In Marquette's most recent trip to the Field House, the then-No. 11 Golden Eagles pulled off a five-set triumph over then-No. 4 Wisconsin on Sept. 5, 2019.
The Golden Eagles fall to 4-13 against top-10 opponents under head coach Ryan Theis, who joined the program in 2014. MU's last win over a top-10 foe was the last meeting against the Badgers in Madison. MU picked up a pair of top-10 wins in back-to-back matches against then-No. 9 BYU and No. 4 UW in 2019.
MU won the second set and held late leads in both the first and third stanzas.
UW closed the opening set, 25-21, on a 6-1 run after an Aubrey Hamilton kill gave MU a 20-19 lead.
The Golden Eagles jumped out to a mid-second set lead on a 9-1 run and led by as many as four points in a 25-23 win.
Marquette led by as many as eight points in the third set loss and held its last lead at 21-20 on a block from Carsen Murray and Aubrey Hamilton. UW closed the third with the final five points as part of a 13-3 run.
MU trailed by as many as nine, 21-12, in the fourth set.
Marquette setter Yadhira Anchante posted her second double-double of the year with 41 assists and 11 digs.
Reitsma posted 12 digs and a pair of aces in addition to her 15 kills for the second double-double of her career.
MU sophomore Samantha Naber set a career high with nine digs.

UP NEXT: The Golden Eagles will face High Point at UW Field House at 6 p.m. on Sunday in a match broadcast live on BTN+.

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).