Hamilton's 17 kills push No. 25 Volleyball past DePaul, 3-1

Box Score (PDF)

CHICAGO – The No. 25 Marquette University women's volleyball team rallied from a first set loss for a 3-1 win over DePaul, 21-25, 25-20, 25-21, 25-19, on Wednesday evening at McGrath-Phillips Arena.

Outside hitter Aubrey Hamilton led the Golden Eagles (16-8, 12-1 BIG EAST) with 17 kills, while Jenna Reitsma had 15 and Carsen Murray added 12 on .688 hitting with a match-best eight blocks.

"It is always a tough environment to play in here," MU head coach Ryan Theis said. "We started slow and responded. I thought that as the match went on and we felt the pressure of the match being close, we were more aggressive, which I was really happy to see. Our misses and mistakes were aggressive misses - a serve out with just a ton of pace, a cross-court swing by an outside hitter that just missed by six inches. So I loved the fact that when there was stress and we were in a tough environment, that we were on the attack."

MU jumped out to commanding leads in the second and third sets, going up 16-8 midway through the second and 18-10 in the third. The Golden Eagles landed 18 kills in the second and hit .414 in the final frame.

"I thought our servers and passers completely flipped the script for us tonight," Theis said. "We served well on the road in a tough environment and it was a really impressive performance from that group."

Hamilton had four of MU's 10 service aces on the night and four Golden Eagles reached double figure digs, led by 19 from libero Sarah Kushner.

DePaul (13-11, 6-7 BIG EAST) received 14 kills from Audrey Klemp and hit a combined .181 as a team.

NOTABLE:

Marquette is currently alone atop the BIG EAST Conference standings at 12-1. Creighton and St. John's are both one game behind the Golden Eagles at 10-2. Creighton hosts DePaul on Friday before welcoming MU to Omaha on Sunday afternoon.
The Golden Eagles secured a berth in the BIG EAST Conference tournament with the victory. MU's 12th league win guarantees it will finish with more wins than Seton Hall, which is currently seventh in the BIG EAST at 5-7.
Marquette hosts the league's annual tournament at the Al McGuire Center on Nov. 22, 24-25. The top two teams in the regular season standings receive byes into the league semifinals on Black Friday.
Kushner had 19 digs and a pair of service aces in front of a large contingent of friends and family. The graduate student is from Naperville, Illinois.
Marquette setter Ella Foti had a career-high 47 assists along with 18 digs.
Hamilton's four service aces ties a career-high she recorded during her sophomore season at Notre Dame.
Marquette is 43-29 all-time against the Blue Demons in a series that began in 1982.
The Golden Eagles have won 26 consecutive meetings dating back to the 2009 campaign. MU's last loss to DePaul was a five-set defeat on Nov. 1, 2008 in Chicago.
Since both teams joined the BIG EAST Conference for the 2005 campaign, MU has won 29 of 30 matches.

UP NEXT: Marquette's final four-match road swing of the season continues Sunday at No. 17 Creighton, Marquette's 10th match this season against an opponent currently ranked in the AVCA Coaches' Poll.

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).