Volleyball hosts Providence and UConn this weekend

Match Notes (PDF)

MILWAUKEE – The Marquette University women's volleyball team hosts Providence on Friday evening at the Al McGuire Center and welcomes UConn on Saturday.

Friday's contest with the Friars is slated for a 7 p.m. Central time first serve, while Saturday's contest with the Huskies begins at 6 p.m. CT. Both matches air live on FloSports with Michelle Griffin-Wenzel on the call. Live statistics will be available through GoMarquette.com.

On Friday night, the Golden Eagles host Nightmare on 12th Street, their annual Halloween match, featuring a Halloween bucket giveaway, trick-or-treating on the west concourse, a costume contest between sets two and three as well as post-match autographs on the court level.

MU basketball student ticket members are able to pick up their Marquette Basketball student section t-shirts during the intermission between the second and third sets of Saturday's contest against the Huskies. There will also be a student raffle for four (4) front row courtside seats at a select men's basketball home game at Fiserv Forum.

The Golden Eagles hit the road next weekend for their final four road matches of the season, beginning with games at DePaul and No. 17 Creighton next week.

MARQUETTE (13-8, 9-1 BIG EAST)

Marquette is currently alone atop the BIG EAST Conference standings at 9-1. Creighton and St. John's are both one game behind the Golden Eagles at 8-2.
The Golden Eagles are hitting a league-best .298 in conference play and are limiting opponents to .116 through 10 matches.
MU leads the BIG EAST in blocks per set (2.51) in conference matches and is second in service aces (1.74) and fifth in digs (15.68).
Outside hitter Aubrey Hamilton leads MU this season with 295 kills (3.83 per set) on .294 hitting while middle blocker Hattie Bray is second on the squad with 171 kills (2.25 per set).
Graduate libero Sarah Kushner was named the BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week on Monday after averaging 5.17 digs in sweeps at Butler and Xavier. In conference action, she is fourth in the BIG EAST in digs per frame.
Ella Foti played the first two matches of her career as MU's 6-1 setter against the Bulldogs and Musketeers and earned BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll recognition. Foti helped MU hit .342 in the two matches, including a season best mark of .447 on Friday at Butler.
Marquette has won at a 75.0 percent clip (225-75) since joining the BIG EAST in 2005 and is 131-28 (.82.4) in BIG EAST matches under head coach Ryan Theis.
MU is 92-13 (.876) in BIG EAST play over the last seven seasons (2017-23) under Theis, including consecutive regular season league titles in 2021 (16-2) and 2022 (17-1).
MU played one of the nation's 10 toughest nonconference schedules according to the Massey Ratings.
MU has 10 matches this season against teams currently ranked in the AVCA Coaches Poll (No. 2 Wisconsin, No. 7 Pitt, No. 9 Oregon, No. 12 Tennessee, No. 14 Kansas, No. 16 Purdue, No. 17 Creighton (twice), No. 18 Dayton and No. 23 Western Kentucky. MU is eight spots outside of the rankings with 31 total points.

PROVIDENCE (8-14, 2-8 BIG EAST)

After Providence's loss to Marquette on Oct. 1, PC claimed five-set wins over Georgetown and Villanova on the road. The Friars have since lost four matches in a row.
Shaliyah Rhoden leads PC with 240 kills (2.93 per set), while Macy Taylor has 197 (2.49 per set).
Rhoden is hitting .243 on the year for the Friars, who are hitting a combined .184.
Providence leads the BIG EAST in service aces with 142 (1.73 per set), led by Sammie Ruggles' 30 (0.43 per frame).
Middle hitter Kayla Grant is second in the BIG EAST with 79 total blocks this season (0.99 per set) and the Friars rank fifth as a team with 2.01 per set (165 total).
Head coach Margot Royer-Johnson is in her 24th season at Providence.

SERIES HISTORY WITH PROVIDENCE:

Marquette is 18-0 all-time against the Friars.
MU has won 54 of the 56 sets played between the programs and has not lost a set to the Friars since the Sept. 10, 1999 meeting to kick off the series. MU won that first matchup 3-2 in Milwaukee.
The Golden Eagles hit .367 in the first matchup with PC this season in Rhode Island on Oct. 1. Hamilton had a match-high 16 kills, while Carsen Murray hit .667 (10-0-15) with four blocks. The Friars hit .130 in the loss and were held to just nine points in the opening set and 12 in the third.

UCONN (7-15, 2-8 BIG EAST)

UConn is 2-5 in BIG EAST play since falling to Marquette, 3-1, in Storrs on Sept. 30 in the last matchup with the Golden Eagles. The two victories have been four-set decisions over Butler and Providence at home.
The Huskies are hitting a combined .184 on the season and are allowing their opponents to hit .229.
Emma Werkmeister leads UConn with 247 kills (3.05 per set), while Cera Powell is second on the squad with 173 (2.48 per set).
The Huskies face DePaul on Friday night in Chicago before making the trip to Milwaukee.
UConn is led by fifth-year head coach Ellen Herman-Kimball, who played under MU head coach Ryan Theis at Ohio.
Current MU assistant Abby Gilleland is in her second year at Marquette after serving three seasons under Herman-Kimball in Storrs. UConn assistant Peter Netisingha replaced Gilleland for the Huskies and served as a volunteer assistant coach at MU during the 2021 campaign.

SERIES HISTORY WITH UCONN:

Marquette is 13-3 all-time against UConn and the Golden Eagles have won the last 10 matchups in the series, including three sweeps of the Huskies last season.
MU has beaten UConn seven times since the Huskies rejoined the BIG EAST for the 2021 campaign. Two of those meetings have come in the BIG EAST tournament semifinals.
Marquette won the first meeting, 3-1, over the Huskies in Storrs on Sept. 30. Hamilton had 13 kills as the Golden Eagles hit a combined .260 to improve to 3-0 in league play.

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