VB opens home slate against No. 9 Pitt and No. 18 Tennessee

Match Notes (PDF) | Watch Live (FloSports)

MILWAUKEE – The No. 24 Marquette University women's volleyball team opens its home schedule this weekend with matches at the Al McGuire Center against No. 9 Pitt and No. 18 Tennessee on Friday and Sunday, respectively.

Fans are encouraged to wear gold to Friday's home opener against the Panthers with first serve slated for 7 p.m. Sunday's contest against the Volunteers on World Suicide Prevention Day is Marquette's Mental Health Awareness Match

Both matches air live on FloSports with Bob Brainerd on the call. Brainerd will be joined by Michelle Griffin-Wenzel for Friday's BIG EAST Digital Network production against the Panthers. Live statistics are available through GoMarquette.com.

No. 24 MARQUETTE (2-3):

The Golden Eagles will play their fourth and fifth matches this season against ranked opponents this weekend. MU has previously faced then-No. 24 Western Kentucky, then-No. 23 Kansas and then-No. 25 Purdue.
MU played its first three matches without all-conference middle blocker Carsen Murray, who was out with an injury.
The Golden Eagles have eight matches this season against teams currently ranked in the AVCA Coaches Poll (No. 1 Wisconsin, No. 6 Oregon, No. 9 Pitt, No. 16 Creighton (twice), No. 18 Tennessee, No. 20 Purdue, No. 22 Kansas). Western Kentucky and Dayton are currently 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 (home of MU men's basketball and the Milwaukee Bucks) and a Thursday, Sept. 14 match across town at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
The Golden Eagles are 8-1 in home openers under head coach Ryan Theis, with the lone loss coming in the fall of 2021 against the reigning NCAA champion Kentucky Wildcats.
MU is 13-35 against ranked teams under Theis and MU faces a pair of ranked opponents again this weekend.
The Golden Eagles are hitting a combined .182 through five matches, while their opponents are hitting .214.
Outside hitter Aubrey Hamilton and setter Yadhira Anchante each earned all-tournament honors in Dayton to begin the year at the Flyer Invitational.
Hamilton leads Marquette with 77 kills on the year (3.35 per set) on .212 hitting with 11 total blocks. She's posted at least 13 kills in each of the last three contests and had a season-best 23 kills, three aces and three blocks in the five-set loss to Purdue. She hit .283 against the Boilermakers and is averaging 2.17 digs per set on the year.
Hamilton is 22 kills from reaching 1,000 in her NCAA career. The native of Hartland, Wisconsin has 467 at Marquette and 978 in her career.
Murray posted 11 blocks last weekend (1.22 per set) in her first two matches of the year and is hitting .310 on 29 swings.

No. 9 PITTSBURGH (4-1):

The Panthers are coming off consecutive appearances in the NCAA Final Four and have made three-straight trips to the NCAA regional finals.
Pitt's 134 wins since 2018 are the most in NCAA Division I over that period.
The match against Marquette is Pitt's fourth this season against a ranked opponent.
The Panthers began the year with a 3-1 loss to then-No. 8 BYU and are coming off consecutive victories over then-No. 15 Kentucky on Sept. 1-3.
Pitt finished with a 31-4 record last fall, going 5-2 against ranked opponents before eventually falling in the NCAA national semifinals to Louisville.
The Panthers had four players named to the 2023 Preseason All-ACC Team, including Bre Kelley, a transfer from Florida. Kelley leads the Panthers with a .452 hitting percentage and is averaging 2.60 kills and 1.30 blocks per set (10 sets played). She's second on the squad in points per game to freshman Olivia Babcock's 3.41.
Freshmen Babcock (2.71 kills per set) and Torrey Stafford (2.38 per set) lead Pitt with 46 and 38 kills, respectively.
Head coach Dan Fisher is in his 11th season with the Panthers.

SERIES WITH PITT:

The Golden Eagles and Panthers are an even 6-6 in the all-time series, though Marquette has won each of the last five matchups.
All but one of the 12 meetings all-time came as fellow members of the BIG EAST Conference (2005-12).
MU is 5-0 against the Panthers since 2010 and since that time has captured three sweeps and a pair of BIG EAST tournament wins.
The last matchup on Nov. 16, 2012, was a 3-1 MU win in the BIG EAST quarterfinals at the Al McGuire Center.
MU is 3-2 against Pitt in matches played at the Al McGuire Center.

No. 18 TENNESSEE (5-1):

The Volunteers have five wins so far this fall, including victories over San Diego and Boston College last week in California.
UT's lone loss came in five sets at No. 1 Wisconsin on Sunday afternoon at UW Field House. The Vols rallied from a 2-0 match deficit to force a fifth set, where they fell 15-13.
Graduate student Morgahn Fingall led Tennessee with 22 kills against the Badgers along with three of UT's 12 service aces.
UT hit .360 in the third set and .412 in the fourth, which were 25-18 and 25-20 wins, respectively.
Before traveling to the Al McGuire Center, the Volunteers will face Loyola Chicago on Friday night in the Windy City.
Fingall was the lone Vol named to the 2023 Preseason All-SEC Team. She was a 2022 AVCA All-American and posted career highs in total kills (483) and kills per set (4.39), both of which are the second-most in Tennessee history during the 25-point scoring era. Fingall led the SEC in kills per set and points per set (5.10) last season and leads the Volunteers in kills (75), kills per set (3.57) and points (86.5) this year.

SERIES WITH TENNESSEE:

Marquette is 0-3 all-time against the Volunteers.
The two programs have not met since 2008, when the Golden Eagles lost in four sets at the Al McGuire Center.

KEEP SHOWING UP
Sunday's matchup with Tennessee on World Suicide Prevention Day is MU's Mental Health Awareness Match. The Golden Eagles have teamed with alumna Jenny Fischer (Comm '19) and her Keep Showing Up campaign in support of suicide prevention awareness and mental health as a whole. Fischer began producing t-shirts adorned with the "Keep Showing Up" phrase in 2020 to raise money for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Fischer's inspiration came from her personal connection to the cause. Her mother and grandfather both died by suicide.

Keep Showing Up shirts will be available for purchase at the match, and donations will be made to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Active Minds and Black Minds organizations will be in attendance at the match.

World Suicide Prevention Day is observed on Sept. 10 each year.

SEPT. 13 MATCH TO HIGHLIGHT STATE VOLLEYBALL
The Golden Eagles welcome No. 1 Wisconsin to Fiserv Forum in downtown Milwaukee on Wednesday, Sept. 13 to highlight the state's volleyball community and attempt to set an indoor regular season volleyball attendance record.

Individual tickets at Fiserv are not included in the Marquette season ticket package and a very limited number of tickets remain. Upper bowl tickets are still available for the matchup with the Badgers and can be purchased online through Ticketmaster and GoMarquette.com.

General admission season tickets at the Al McGuire Center are just $40 for the year and can be purchased online or by calling the Marquette Ticket Office at 414-288-GOMU (4668). Email athletics@marquette.edu for group rates or for the limited number of courtside seats.

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).