BIG EAST VB Heavyweights clash Friday in MKE

Match Notes (PDF)

MILWAUKEE – The Marquette University women's volleyball team hosts No. 15 Creighton on Friday evening at the Al McGuire Center in a clash between the BIG EAST Conference's most dominant programs.

Opening serve is set for 7:02 p.m. Central time and the match airs live on the BIG EAST Digital Network through FloSports. Bob Brainerd (play-by-play) and Michelle Griffin-Wenzel will handle the call and live statistics are available through GoMarquette.com.

All fans are encouraged to wear white and the first 200 students will receive a free white Marquette Volleyball t-shirt. The first 100 students will also receive free Shake Shack burgers.

Tickets for the game are still available for purchase online or at the Al McGuire Center Ticket Office on Friday.

MARQUETTE (9-7, 5-0 BIG EAST)

The Golden Eagles are 5-0 to begin BIG EAST play for the eighth time overall, and the third season in a row. MU is the league's only unbeaten team in conference play.
Marquette was picked to win the BIG EAST in the preseason coaches' poll with seven first place votes. Creighton received four.
Marquette has won at a 74.9 percent clip (212-71) since joining the BIG EAST in 2005 and is 127-27 (.825) in BIG EAST matches under head coach Ryan Theis.
MU is 88-12 (.880) 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).
The Golden Eagles are hitting a league-best .331 in conference play and are holding opponents to hit a miniscule .098 through five matches. MU's offensive unit is hitting nearly 100 points higher than St. John's (.236) in the No. 2 spot, while Marquette is also averaging a conference-best 14.25 kills and 12.50 assists per set.
MU leads the BIG EAST in blocks per set (2.59) in conference matches and is third in service aces (1.75) and digs (16.38).
Outside hitter Aubrey Hamilton leads MU this season with 219 kills (3.71 per set) on .276 hitting and was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Monday for the third time in as many weeks. She hit .403 last weekend in wins at UConn and Providence with 4.14 kills per set.
In the 10 matches (33 sets) since Hamilton was held to a -.042 (5-6-24) hitting percentage against then-No. 9 Pitt on Sept. 8, she is hitting .347 (137-29-311) with 4.15 kills per set, 10 service aces, 55 digs and 21 blocks.
Hamilton is hitting an astronomical .453 through five conference matches on nearly 130 swings (65-7-128). MU middle blocker Carsen Murray leads the league at .577 (34-4-52) in conference matches and is hitting .401 overall (72-17-137), also best in the BIG EAST.
The Golden Eagles sit 24th in the season's first NCAA women's volleyball RPI rankings released on Oct. 1. Creighton is 17th.
MU has played one of the nation's 10 toughest nonconference schedules according to the Massey Ratings.
MU has nine matches this season against teams currently ranked in the AVCA Coaches Poll (No. 1 Wisconsin, No. 5 Oregon, No. 7 Pitt, No. 12 Tennessee, No. 15 Creighton (twice), No. 17 Kansas, No. 19 Purdue, No. 22 Dayton. MU is six spots outside of the rankings with 10 total points, while Western Kentucky, Marquette's first opponent this season, is one spot outside the top 25 with 81 points.

No. 15 CREIGHTON (12-3, 3-1 BIG EAST)

The Bluejays swept St. John's and Seton Hall last weekend after falling in five sets at Xavier in the opening weekend of BIG EAST action.
Creighton opened the year with wins over Loyola Chicago and at then-No. 16 Purdue on Aug. 25-26 and owns victories over LSU, Northern Iowa, Iowa State and at No. 9 Minnesota.
Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year Norah Sis has missed the last nine matches due to injury, but reigning BIG EAST Freshman of the Year Ava Martin as stepped up in her place to average 4.04 kills per set, the second highest total in the league this season.
CU's two other all-league players from last season returned in middle blocker Kiana Schmitt and setter Kendra Wait. Schmitt averages 2.73 kills on .360 hitting and over a block per set, while Wait paces the CU offense with 10 assists per set and 3.52 digs.
Freshman Destiny Ndam-Simpson has played in all but the first three matches and is averaging 2.24 kills per set but hitting just .144. Ndam-Simpson was PrepVolleyball's No. 21 recruit in the high school class of 2023.
Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth is in her 21st season with the Bluejays.

SERIES HISTORY WITH CREIGHTON:

Marquette is 6-26 all-time against the Bluejays with all but five of those meetings coming after CU joined the BIG EAST for the 2013 campaign.
The two squads split the two regular season matches last season and each team won on its home court.
MU swept then-No. 11 Creighton, 25-19, 25-19, 25-21, in the 2022 regular season finale to secure the BIG EAST tournament's No. 1 seed. Prior to that win, MU had lost its last five home matches to CU.
The Jays won both matches last season in Omaha in five sets. The Golden Eagles tied the BIG EAST tournament final with a 33-31 fourth set victory before falling, 15-12, in the fifth. Hamilton had a career- and match-high 25 kills for MU, while Yadhira Anchante had 57 assists and a career-best 25 digs.
Outside of the St. John's surprise run to the BIG EAST tournament title in 2019, only MU and Creighton have won league titles since the conference reformed in 2013, regular season or tournament.

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).