Bray hits .700 with 15 kills in sweep of Xavier

Box Score (PDF) | Highlights (YouTube)

CINCINNATI – Marquette University middle blocker Hattie Bray hit .700 in a 25-18, 26-24, 25-18 sweep of Xavier on Friday evening at Cintas Center.

The Golden Eagles (21-7, 15-2 BIG EAST) won their penultimate match of the regular season behind match highs of 15 kills and five blocks for Bray and a double-double of 12 kills and 11 digs from outside hitter Aubrey Hamilton.

Bray was unstoppable on the slide all night, connecting with setter Yadhira Anchante on 14 of her 15 kills, including six in the final stanza. She began the match by landing all five first set swings for kills.

Xavier (10-17, 8-9 BIG EAST) fought back in the second to reach set point, 24-21, on the heels of an 8-2 run. But MU put an end to that by fending off three XU set points and closing the frame on a 5-0 run, capped by two kills from Hamilton and the final point from Bray.

The Golden Eagles then hit .387 in a third set win and their 12th sweep in BIG EAST Conference action.

Anna Taylor hit .455 and led the Musketeers with 12 kills.

NOTABLE:

In BIG EAST play this year, Bray leads the conference with a hitting mark of .441 (157-25-299) with 2.71 kills per set. Bray was named to the league honor roll on Monday after hitting .611 against Georgetown and Seton Hall with 4.17 kills and 5.08 points per set.
Marquette is 22-9 all-time against Xavier and has won each of the last 12 meetings since a loss to the Musketeers in the 2016 BIG EAST semifinals in Indianapolis.
MU is 17-4 against Xavier since the Musketeers entered the BIG EAST for the 2013 campaign.
Emma Grace entered the match leading Xavier with 3.09 kills per set but landed just six on Friday with a negative hitting percentage (-.024; 6-7-41).
The Golden Eagles allowed 47 Xavier points in a 25-13, 25-20, 25-14 sweep earlier this season at the Al McGuire Center. MU hit a combined .355 in the contest, including a mark of .522 in the first frame. Hamilton and Ring (.522; 13-1-23) each led MU with 13 kills, while Bray hit .615 (8-0-13) with three blocks.

UP NEXT: The Golden Eagles head to Chicago to close out the regular season at DePaul on Sunday at noon Central time on Marquee Sports Network.

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).