VB Welcomes Villanova and St. John’s to Milwaukee

Match Notes (PDF)

MILWAUKEE – The Marquette University women's volleyball team will play five of its next six matches at the Al McGuire Center, beginning this weekend with matches against Villanova on Friday and St. John's on Sunday.

Friday's contest against the Wildcats is slated for 7 p.m. Central time, while Sunday's matchup with the Red Storm begins at 1 p.m. CT. Bob Brainerd will handle play-by-play duties for both contests, which will air live on FloSports and are productions of the MU Diederich College of Communications. Live statistics are available through GoMarquette.com.

Marquette students who are basketball season ticket holders can claim their 2024-25 season t-shirts during Friday's match against the Wildcats on the concourse of the Al McGuire Center.

Next week, MU hits the road for a midweek match at Butler on Wednesday, Nov. 6 before a big home contest against No. 6 Creighton at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 10 at the Al.

MARQUETTE (15-6, 9-1 BIG EAST)

Setter Yadhira Anchante has helped MU hit a combined .255 this season and averages 10.24 assists per frame and a team-best 3.27 digs (eighth in the BIG EAST in all matches).
Anchante earned her fourth BIG EAST Conference weekly honor on Monday for her play in a 4-0 week. She averaged 10.36 assists and 3.00 digs per set while adding six service aces and currently has 2,950 assists in NCAA Division I action to rank fourth in Marquette history. She moved past both Lauren Speckman (2,852 assists; 2016-19) and AVCA Third Team All-American Elizabeth Koberstein (2,868 assists; 2012-13) over the last week.
Anchante has a team-best 15 double doubles this season and posted her 2,500th career assist at No. 1 Pitt on Sept. 22. She is 50 assists away from becoming the fourth MU player to reach 3,000 in a career.
Right-side hitter Ella Foti also played a big role in MU's four victories last week by hitting .321 (22-8-78) with 2.36 kills per set and a team-best eight service aces. Foti hit .474 (11-2-19) in Saturday's sweep of Princeton with four service aces and landed another 11 kills on .500 hitting (11-1-20) in Sunday's sweep at Georgetown.
Outside hitter Aubrey Hamilton leads the Golden Eagles with 3.42 kills per set, while also averaging 2.32 digs and 0.64 blocks.
Hamilton became the 14th player to reach 1,000 in a MU uniform in the Oct. 18 win over DePaul with a career-high 28 kills.
In the current nine-match winning streak since the loss at Creighton on Oct. 1, outside hitter Natalie Ring is averaging 3.27 kills per set on a hitting mark of .314 (85-21-204). Hamilton is averaging 3.94 kills on .274 hitting with 2.59 digs and 0.41 blocks per set.
Ring is now second on the squad with 2.52 kills per set in all matches on a hitting line of 126-37-330 (.270).
Middle blocker Carsen Murray, MU's all-time leader in career hitting percentage, leads the BIG EAST this season with a mark of .388 in all matches.
Sophomore Molly Berezowitz and senior Samantha Naber split duties as MU's primary libero early in the season, but Naber has seen her playing time increase during conference play. In MU's 10 league matches, Naber is averaging 3.50 digs per set to rank seventh among players in the BIG EAST.
The Golden Eagles have raised their hitting percentage since the start of BIG EAST play and are hitting .255 (1,031-329-2,756) on the year.
MU is ranked 26th in the NCAA's third RPI ranking of the season, which includes matches through Oct. 27.
Marquette began conference play with the seventh-toughest strength of schedule in the country according to the NCAA Division I Massey Ratings.
Eight of MU's 11 nonconference matches have come against squads that competed in the 2023 NCAA tournament.

VILLANOVA (13-8, 6-4 BIG EAST)

The Wildcats have won two of their last three contests, save for a five-set loss at St. John's on Oct. 23. They most recently swept Butler on Oct. 26 at home and have also beaten Providence, Xavier, DePaul, Seton Hall and Georgetown in league action.
VU also opened the season with back-to-back losses against Santa Clara and Notre Dame on the West Coast.
Outside hitter Abby Harrell leads the Wildcats with 3.28 kills per set and averages 2.20 digs and 0.47 blocks per frame.
In addition to Harrell, three other players average above 2.00 kills per set, including Campbell McKinnon (2.43), Cat Young (2.32) and Tara Garvey (2.08).
Villanova is hitting .222 for the year and .240 in BIG EAST play through 10 matches.
Head coach Josh Steinbach is in his 18th season at VU.

SERIES HISTORY WITH VU:

Marquette holds a 25-4 edge in the all-time series, which began when MU entered the BIG EAST for the 2005 campaign.
MU has won each of the last 12 matches after a five-set loss at Jake Nevin on Oct. 14, 2017.
Marquette hit .310 and swept Villanova on Oct. 13 in Pennsylvania, led by 15 kills from Hamilton.
The Golden Eagles hit .440 in the 2023 BIG EAST opener to sweep Villanova at the Al McGuire Center in the last home meeting. Hattie Bray notched a career-high 11 blocks to become the first MU player to reach the mark in a sweep in over two decades.

ST. JOHN'S (16-8, 5-5 BIG EAST)

The Red Storm began BIG EAST play at 11-3, but are .500 in league action with five losses, including a 3-1 loss to MU on Oct. 11 in Queens.
The versatile Erin Jones leads SJU with 3.63 kills per set on a hitting mark of .273 with 2.75 digs and 0.51 blocks per set and a team-best 40 service aces. Jones has also notched 161 assists (second on the team) as the squad's secondary setter.
The Red Storm boasts a collection of impressive arms in addition to Jones in European veterans Giorgia Walther, Lucrezia Lodi and Magda Stambrowska. Walther sits second to Jones with 3.40 kills per frame, while Stambrowska is hitting .281 to pace the squad.
Polish setter Wiktoria Kowalczyk averages 9.22 assists per set and has notched 41 total blocks, while Ludovica Zola is the team's block leader with 85 for an average of 0.99 per frame.
Libero Rashanny Solano Smith ranks fourth in the BIG EAST with 3.80 digs per set.
Head coach Joanne Persico is in her 31st season at St. John's.
St. John's is the only other team outside of Marquette and Creighton to claim a BIG EAST title since the league reformed prior to the 2013 campaign. The Red Storm defeated both MU and CU on their way to a 2019 league tournament crown at the Al McGuire Center.

SERIES HISTORY WITH SJU:

Marquette is 26-9 all-time against the Red Storm and all 35 meetings have come since MU joined the BIG EAST for the 2005 season. SJU won the first three meetings in the series, but MU has won 26 of the last 32 contests.
Marquette won the first meeting this season, 3-1, at Carnesecca Arena on Friday, Oct. 11. The Red Storm had seven service aces in a 25-14 first set win before MU settled in to hit .520 in the second and .316 in the fourth. Hamilton led all players with 17 kills in the win.
MU went just 1-2 against St. John's last season, including a regular season sweep of SJU at the Al McGuire Center, five-set losses in Queens during the regular season and at the Al in the BIG EAST semifinals.
MU lost in last year's league semis despite hitting .444 in a dominating 25-11 first set win. MU also took a 2-1 match advantage after three sets and led 5-1 to open the fifth, before falling 15-13. Hamilton led MU in the match with 19 kills, while Lodi had a match-best 20 for SJU.

BIG EAST PLAY REACHES 20 YEARS

The 2024 campaign is MU's 20th in the BIG EAST Conference and 50th overall.
Marquette has won at a 75.8 percent clip (233-74) since joining the league and is 148-30 (.831) in BIG EAST matches under head coach Ryan Theis.
MU is 109-15 (.879) in BIG EAST play over the last seven seasons (2017-23) under Theis, including consecutive regular season league titles in 2021 (16-2), 2022 (17-1) and 2023 (16-2).
The Golden Eagles are picked to finish second in the BIG EAST Conference preseason coaches' poll and four MU student-athletes were named to the league's preseason team, led by Hamilton, a unanimous selection. Anchante and middle blockers Bray and Carsen Murray also received preseason recognition.
Marquette is a three-time reigning BIG EAST regular season champion, has won four league titles overall (2013, 2021, 2022, 2023) and made its 12th NCAA tournament appearance in the last 13 seasons last fall (MU's lone NCAA miss during 2020-21 was due to the tightened tournament field).

MU MILESTONE WATCH

Kills (1,000): Hamilton at 1,077 in MU career, Reitsma at 853
Digs (1,000): Anchante at 854, Reitsma at 840
Assists (3,000): Anchante at 2,950
Blocks (400): Murray at 387
Aces (100): Reitsma at 139, Foti at 89

2024 MARKS MU'S 50TH SEASON

The 2024 campaign marks MU's 50th season of competition and 20th season in the BIG EAST Conference.
The first season of women's volleyball at Marquette was played during the 1975-76 academic year and MU has grown into a perennial NCAA tournament participant and four-time BIG EAST champion.
The Golden Eagles have qualified for each of the last 12 NCAA tournaments with full 64-team fields and have advanced to the NCAA Second Round seven times and own a pair of NCAA Regional Semifinal appearances.

SEASON TICKETS ON SALE FOR $40

Season tickets for Marquette's full 14-match regular season schedule are available to purchase for just $40. They can be bought online or by calling the Marquette Ticket Office at 414-288-GOMU (4668).
New this fall is a Coaches' Corner pre-match talk for season ticket members with head coach Ryan Theis and other members of the MU staff. The first session was held on Sept. 6 prior to the Kansas match and the final one is scheduled for Nov. 10 (Creighton). The event begins at a quarter-after the hour prior to each match and cost $20, which includes refreshments and light snacks. More information and a registration link will be communicated with season ticket members prior to each contest.

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).