Foti posts near triple-double as volleyball sweeps PC

Box Score (PDF)

MILWAUKEE – Ella Foti nearly had a triple-double as the Marquette University women's volleyball team swept Providence, 25-22, 25-21, 25-15, on Friday evening at the Al McGuire Center.

Foti had 31 assists, 11 digs and nine kills in her third match as setter for the Golden Eagles (14-8, 10-1 BIG EAST). Junior outside hitter Jenna Reitsma landed a match-high 13 kills and hit .444 along with nine digs.

Providence (8-15, 2-9 BIG EAST) was led by 12 kills from Shaliyah Rhoden and recorded eight team blocks in the match, paced by six from middle blocker Lyric Berry.

Marquette led by 10 points late in the opening frame but allowed the Friars to narrow the gap on a 6-0 run with some of MU's reserves in the game.

Providence also kept the second set tight by hitting .429 early to force the Golden Eagles into a timeout facing a 17-15 deficit. Marquette rallied with the next four points to reclaim the lead for good as Reitsma posted seven kills without an error in the frame.

"Providence's offense got rolling in that second set, I think at one point they had 10 kills and one error," Theis said. "They were playing really low error and made us earn it. At different times, timely mistakes made it tight but a couple really clutch performances after 20 points from some of our players to close out those sets and get us out of here in three."

NOTABLE:

Marquette is 19-0 all-time against the Friars.
MU has won 57 of the 59 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.
Marquette is currently alone atop the BIG EAST Conference standings at 10-1. Creighton and St. John's are both one game behind the Golden Eagles at 9-2 following sweeps over Xavier and Villanova, respectively, on Friday night.
Graduate libero Sarah Kushner, the reigning BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week, had a team-best 15 digs for Marquette.
MU defensive specialist Samantha Naber notched a career-high 14 digs along with two service aces in the win.
The Golden Eagles hit .367 in the first matchup with PC this season in Rhode Island on Oct. 1. Aubrey 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.

UP NEXT: The Golden Eagles welcome UConn to the Al McGuire Center at 6 p.m. Central time on Saturday. 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. There will also be a student raffle for four (4) front row courtside seats to a select men's basketball home game at Fiserv Forum.

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).