Golden Eagles host No. 1 Wisconsin at Fiserv Forum

Match Notes (PDF)

MILWAUKEE – The Marquette University women's volleyball team hosts No. 1 Wisconsin at Fiserv Forum on Wednesday evening to begin a stretch of four matches in five days to close non-conference play.

The Golden Eagles and Badgers will attempt to break the NCAA regular season indoor attendance record, set last season in Madison in a match between UW and Florida at the Kohl Center (16,833) on Sept. 16, 2022.

Wednesday's match is slated for 7 p.m. Central time at Fiserv Forum (capacity 18,215), home of the MU men's basketball team and 2021 NBA Champion Milwaukee Bucks. The contest airs live on FS1 with Bob Brainerd (play-by-play) and Anna Connelly (analyst) on the call.

An extremely limited number of tickets for the event remain and can be purchased online through Ticketmaster or by calling the Marquette Ticket Office at 414-288-GOMU (4668).

Following Wednesday's matchup with the Badgers, MU will face Milwaukee on Thursday at the Klotsche Center on the East Side. The game against the Panthers is slated for 6 p.m. and airs live on ESPN+.

The Golden Eagles then return to the Al McGure Center this weekend to host Air Force on Saturday afternoon and No. 7 Oregon on Sunday.

MARQUETTE (2-5):

The Golden Eagles will play their sixth match this season against a ranked opponent on Wednesday.
MU last faced the nation's top ranked team in last season's NCAA Sweet 16 and fell to eventual national champion Texas in the regional semifinals at Gregory Gym in Austin.
The Golden Eagles have nine matches this season against teams currently ranked in the AVCA Coaches Poll (No. 1 Wisconsin, No. 7 Oregon, No. 8 Pitt, No. 14 Creighton (twice), No. 15 Tennessee, No. 17 Purdue, No. 20 Kansas, No. 25 Dayton). Western Kentucky is also receiving votes.
The remainder of MU's non-conference schedule will be played in Milwaukee. Marquette closes non-conference play with four matches at the Al McGuire Center on campus, the Wisconsin match at Fiserv Forum and a Thursday, Sept. 14 match across town at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
MU played its first three matches without all-conference middle blocker Carsen Murray, who was out with an injury.
Through the season's first seven matches, the Golden Eagles are hitting a combined .174 and allowing their opponents to hit .247.
Outside hitter Aubrey Hamilton leads the Golden Eagles with 96 total kills for an average of 3.31 per set. She's also posted seven aces and 14 blocks along with a 2.07 digs per set average.
Hamilton is three kills from reaching 1,000 in her NCAA career. The native of Hartland, Wisconsin has 486 at Marquette and 997 in her career.
MU has a total of eight Wisconsinites on its roster: Molly Berezowitz (Burlington), Sam Naber (Burlington), Hattie Bray (Hancock), Aubrey Hamilton (Hartland), Ella Foti (Madison), Adriana Studer (Hartland), Morgan Daugherty (Brookfield), Natalie Ring (Madison).
Daugherty's father, Sean, was a four-year member of the men's basketball team at the University of Wisconsin (1994-98).
Theis will face his alma mater on Thursday evening on the East Side. Theis was a men's club volleyball player at Milwaukee and a student assistant on the women's volleyball team. Current MKE head coach Susie Johnson was a member of the coaching staff at the time. Johnson is the aunt of MU director of volleyball operations, Ellie Adams.

No. 1 WISCONSIN (7-0):

The Badgers are seventh in the country this season in hitting percentage (.324) and average nearly three blocks per set (2.8), which ranks 19th in NCAA Division I.
Sarah Franklin leads UW with 95 total kills (3.96 per set), while Devyn Robinson (3.31), Temi Thomas-Ailara (2.35) and Anna Smrek (2.19) each average over two kills per frame. All four hit above .277 on the year.
Smrek's brother, Luke, was a four-year member of the Marquette men's tennis team (2016-20). He was a four-time BIG EAST All-Academic Team selection, a two-time all-conference performer, and the BIG EAST Freshman of the year in 2016-17.
Minnesota transfer Carter Booth leads the Badgers with 36 total blocks.
UW has dropped five sets this year, one in the season opener to then-No. 15 Baylor on Aug. 25 and has played a pair of five-set matches: at No. 21 Arkansas on Aug. 30 and against then-No. 24 Tennessee at home on Sept. 3.
The Badgers swept both Arizona and Miami (Fla.) last week on Sept. 7 and Sept. 8, respectively.
Wisconsin head coach Kelly Sheffield is in his 11th season with the Badgers and was also an in-state rival of MU head coach Ryan Theis when the two were at Dayton and Ohio, respectively, at their previous stops.
UW and MU are two of just seven teams in NCAA Division I to have at least 22 wins in each of the last 10 seasons (excluding 2020-21).

RECENT HISTORY WITH WISCONSIN:

Since the two programs resumed playing on an annual basis during the 2017 campaign, Marquette's lone victory was a five-set win over then-No. 4 Wisconsin on Sept 5, 2019, at UW Field House in Madison.
MU took the second set in last year's match at Wisconsin and led 21-20 in the third before dropping the next five points and eventually the match in four sets.
Jenna Reitsma (15 kills and 12 digs) and Yadhira Anchante (41 assists and 11 digs) each posted double doubles last season at UW.

DIGITAL TICKETING

For entry to all games this season you can enter with a digital ticket. For easy access to your digital tickets, you can download the Marquette Gameday app.
For more information on how to utilize digital ticketing throughout the season, please reference our Marquette Digital Ticketing video.
Please remember, Fiserv Forum does not accept tickets printed in .PDF format. All ticket holders arriving with a ticket in .PDF format will have to reprint their ticket at ticket resolution or use their digital ticket.

IN-SEAT MOBILE ORDERING (CONSESSIONS)

Place your food and beverage orders with our completely contactless ordering experience in the Bucks App and at the new self-serve kiosks.

Fans will be notified via text message when their order is ready to be picked up at a designated cubby to complete the contactless experience.
All gates at Fiserv Forum this season will be open 60-minutes prior to the match. We encourage fans to arrive early to allow enough time to get through security and ticketing. You can enter through the main entrance off the plaza (East side), the skybridge from the N 5th and McKinley parking garage or the Johnson Controls entrance (N 6th and Juneau).

Ticket resolution, sales and will call are located at the box office, off the plaza on the East side of Fiserv Forum. If you have issues downloading the app or with digital ticketing, please visit our customer service representatives outside the season ticket member lounge located behind section 103.

MILWAUKEE (5-5):

The Panthers welcome DePaul to the Klotsche Center on Tuesday before Thursday's match with the Golden Eagles.
MKE opened the season with four losses, including a five-set decision to BIG EAST Conference foe Villanova on Aug. 26 in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Milwaukee's lone home match prior to this week was a 3-1 victory over Northwestern on Sept. 4.
The Panthers went 2-1 last weekend in a tournament at SIU-Edwardsville with wins over Idaho and Western Illinois on Sept. 8 and a Sept. 9 loss, 3-1, to SIUE.
Middle blocker Ari Miller hits .385 on the year and leads MKE with 3.23 kills and 1.16 blocks per set. Natalie Schmitz is also averaging over three kills per set (3.13) but leads the squad with over 200 points.
Susie Johnson is in her 27th season at Milwaukee and 16th as head coach.

RECENT HISTORY WITH MILWAUKEE:

The Golden Eagles head to the Klotsche Center for the first time since 2017.
Marquette has won 12-straight meetings in the series, dating back to a five-set win at the Al McGuire Center during the 2008 campaign.
MU swept MKE in last season's matchup at the Al on Sept. 11, 2022. The Golden Eagles hit .418 at that meeting and had 10 aces in just three sets, with Ella Foti leading the way with a career-best four.

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).