Volleyball sweeps UConn 25-19, 25-16, 25-19

Box Score (PDF)

MILWAUKEE – Led by 13 kills from outside hitter Jenna Reitsma, the Marquette University women's volleyball team swept UConn, 25-19, 25-16, 25-19, on Saturday evening at the Al McGuire Center.

The Golden Eagles (15-8, 11-1 BIG EAST) hit .375 in the second set and .438 in the third on their way to their ninth sweep in BIG EAST Conference play. Aubrey Hamilton (11-1-31) and Carsen Murray (5-1-11) hit an efficient .323 and .364, respectively, while senior middle blocker Anastasija Svetnik posted one of her best matches in a Marquette uniform. The native of Minsk, Belarus hit .438 with seven kills on 16 errorless swings and chipped in a match-high five blocks, three digs and a pair of assists.

"It was a really good team effort," MU head coach Ryan Theis said. "The big thing was defense. We held them to negative or zero through the first and part of the second, and we did a really good job getting stops. In the second I don't know how long it took for them to get a first-swing kill so it was a good team effort."

Marquette hit just .143 in the first set but closed the frame on a 9-4 run and kept the momentum going into an early second set advantage. Hamilton had six of her 11 kills in the second and Murray landed four of her five attacks for kill in the stanza.

MU rallied from a 15-13 deficit midway through the final set for a 20-15 advantage it never relinquished.

UConn (7-17, 2-10 BIG EAST) hit a combined .094 (31-19-127) and was led by eight kills from outside hitter Emma Werkmeister.

NOTABLE:

Marquette is currently alone atop the BIG EAST Conference standings at 11-1. Creighton and St. John's are both one game behind the Golden Eagles at 10-2 following victories over Georgetown and Butler, respectively, on Saturday afternoon.
MU entered the weekend leading the conference in blocks and posted seven on the night, led by five from Svetnik and four from Murray.
Marquette libero Sarah Kushner had a match-high 20 digs and averaged 5.83 digs per set in sweeps of Providence and UConn this weekend.
Marquette is 14-3 all-time against UConn and the Golden Eagles have won the last 11 matchups in the series, including three sweeps of the Huskies last season.
MU has beaten UConn eight 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.
UConn is led by fifth-year head coach Ellen Herman-Kimball, who played under MU head coach Ryan Theis at Ohio.

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

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).