Golden Eagles head east to take on UConn and Providence

Match Notes (PDF)

MILWAUKEE – The Marquette University women's volleyball team hits the road this weekend for BIG EAST Conference matches at UConn and Providence on Saturday, Sept. 30 and Sunday, Oct. 1, respectively.

Both matches feature a live video broadcast through FloSports and live statistics available through GoMarquette.com, courtesy of each home team. John Avino (play-by-play) will handle the call for both matches.

Saturday's match against the Huskies at the UConn Volleyball Center is Marquette's first contest outside the city of Milwaukee since the Golden Eagles faced then-No. 23 Kansas on Sept. 2 in Lawrence, Kansas.

MARQUETTE (6-7, 2-0 BIG EAST)

MU has played its last eight games in Milwaukee (six at the Al McGuire Center, one at Fiserv Forum and one at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee).
Outside hitter Aubrey Hamilton leads MU with 179 kills (3.65 per set) on .256 hitting and was named to the BIG EAST Conference Weekly Honor Roll on Monday for the second time in as many weeks. Hamilton hit .600 in each of last weekend's wins over Villanova (13-1-20) and Georgetown (12-0-20).
In the seven matches (23 sets) since Hamilton was held to a -.042 (5-6-24) hitting percentage against then-No. 9 Pitt on Sept. 8, she is hitting .332 (97-23-223) with 4.22 kills per set, eight service aces, 34 digs and 15 blocks.
Middle blocker Hattie Bray was also named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll for her play against the Wildcats and Hoyas last weekend. In Friday's sweep of Villanova, Bray posted a career-best 11 blocks alongside nine kills on .471 hitting (9-1-17) and three digs.
Bray's 11 blocks against Villanova on Sept. 22 are the most for a MU player in a three-set match since former AVCA All-America outside hitter Kimberly Todd posted 11 against San Francisco on Sept. 15, 2006 at the Al McGuire Center.
Marquette has won at a 74.6 percent clip (209-71) since joining the BIG EAST and is 124-27 (.821) in BIG EAST matches under head coach Ryan Theis.
MU is 85-12 (.876) 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).
Marquette was picked to win the BIG EAST in the annual preseason coaches' survey with seven first place votes.
MU entered the week with the nation's ninth-toughest schedule, according to the Massey ratings.
MU has nine matches this season against teams currently ranked in the AVCA Coaches Poll (No. 1 Wisconsin, No. 6 Oregon, No. 8 Pitt, No. 12 Tennessee, No. 16 Creighton (twice), No. 17 Purdue, No. 19 Kansas, No. 21 Dayton. MU is five spots outside of the rankings with 23 total points, while Western Kentucky, Marquette's first opponent this season, is two spots outside the top 25 with 92 points.

UCONN (5-9, 0-2 BIG EAST)

The Huskies have dropped five of their last six matches after consecutive wins over Sacred Heart and Rhode Island.
UConn was swept at Seton Hall and St. John's to open conference play last weekend while hitting a BIG EAST-low .104 with just 9.50 kills per set. Prior to reaching extra points in a third set of a 28-26 loss at Seton Hall on Saturday, the Huskies had not broken 18 points in any of their previous eight sets against SHU, SJU or Brown.
The Huskies are hitting a combined .188 on the season and are allowing their opponents to hit a BIG EAST-worst .235.
Emma Werkmeister leads UConn with 145 kills (2.84 per set), while Mya Ayro is second on the squad with 103 (2.40 per set).
UConn is led by fifth-year head coach Ellen Herman-Kimball, who played under MU head coach Ryan Theis at Ohio.
Current MU assistant Abby Gilleland is in her second year at Marquette after serving three seasons under Herman-Kimball in Storrs. UConn assistant Peter Netisingha replaced Gilleland for the Huskies and served as a volunteer assistant coach at MU during the 2021 campaign.

SERIES HISTORY WITH UCONN:

Marquette is 12-3 all-time against UConn and the Golden Eagles have won the last nine matchups in the series, including three sweeps of the Huskies last season.
MU has beaten UConn a total of six times in the last two seasons since the Huskies rejoined the BIG EAST. Two of those meetings have come in the BIG EAST tournament semifinals.
In the three matches last season, MU hit .293, .324 and .352, respectively.
Hamilton led all players with 13 kills against the Huskies in the 2022 BIG EAST semifinals. She hit .333 with six digs, five blocks and a service ace.

PROVIDENCE (6-8, 0-2 BIG EAST)

The Friars had a five-match winning streak after opening the season with four straight losses, but now sit at 5-9 after losses in each of their last three contests.

Shaliyah Rhoden leads PC with 152 kills (2.87 per set), while Macy Taylor has 143 (2.80 per set).
Rhoden is hitting .252 on the year for the Friars, who are hitting a combined .175.
Middle hitter Kayla Grant leads the BIG EAST with 56 total blocks this season (1.10 per set) and the Friars rank third as a team with 2.06 per set (109 total).
Providence leads the BIG EAST in service aces with 101 (1.91 per set), led by Sammie Ruggles' 27 (0.51 per frame).
Head coach Margot Royer-Johnson is in her 24th season at Providence.

SERIES HISTORY WITH PROVIDENCE:

Marquette is 17-0 all-time against the Friars.
MU has won 51 of the 53 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.
Bray hit .647 and landed a then-career-best 11 kills in the first matchup with the Friars last season as MU hit .355.
MU picked up a 25-15, 25-21, 25-14 sweep of PC in its last visit to Providence on Nov. 12, 2022.

MATCHES AGAINST UW AND OREGON HIGHLIGHT VOLLEYBALL GROWTH

The Golden Eagles and Badgers played in front of 17,037 fans at Fiserv Forum, a NCAA regular season indoor attendance record, and the most spectators to ever attend a women's sporting event in the state of Wisconsin.
The UW match on Sept. 13 attracted 146,000 total-average viewers over 160 minutes on FS1, while MU's match on Sept. 17 against No. 7 Oregon recorded 325,000 total-average viewers over 96 minutes on an NFL Sunday. Nielsen data courtesy of SportsTVRatings.com.

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).