Volleyball heads to Butler for Wednesday match

Match Notes (PDF)

MILWAUKEE – The Marquette University women's volleyball team hits the road for a midweek match against Butler at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis at 6 p.m. Central time on Wednesday.

The match airs live on FloCollege and live statistics are available, courtesy of Butler Athletics.

Following the matchup in Indiana, the Golden Eagles return home to host No. 5 Creighton at 2 p.m. on Sunday at the Al McGuire Center on FS1. MU encourages all fans in attendance to wear white against the Bluejays and season ticket holders have the opportunity to attend the final Coach's Corner with Ryan Theis at 1:15 p.m. prior to the match. Information on the event has been conveyed to season ticket holders, but those with questions can reach out to the Marquette Ticket Office at 414-288-GOMU (4668).

MARQUETTE (17-6, 11-1 BIG EAST)

MU will secure a spot in the six-team BIG EAST tournament field with its 12th league victory. The league championship begins Wednesday, Nov. 27 in Omaha, Nebraska and the top-two regular season finishers receive a bye into the Friday, Nov. 29 semifinals.
The Golden Eagles are on an 11-match winning streak, beginning with their last match against Butler, a sweep at the Al McGuire Center on Oct. 6. MU his hitting .296 over that period which has coincided with Natalie Ring's placement into the front row at outside hitter.
In the current 11-match winning streak since the loss at Creighton on Oct. 1, Ring is averaging 3.34 kills per set on a hitting mark of .332 (107-22-256). Hamilton is averaging 3.89 kills on .289 hitting with 2.55 digs per set.
Hamilton leads the Golden Eagles with 3.44 kills per set in all matches with 2.33 digs and 0.61 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.
Ring is now second on the squad with 2.64 kills per set in all matches on a hitting line of 148-38-382 (.288).
Setter Yadhira Anchante has helped MU hit a combined .262 this season and averages 10.19 assists per frame and a team-best 3.31 digs (ninth in the BIG EAST in all matches).
Anchante became the fourth player in program history to reach 3,000 career assists in Sunday's match against St. John's and currently fourth all-time at MU with 3,007 in 83 matches.
Anchante has a team-best 17 double doubles this season and averages a career high in digs per set.
Middle blocker Carsen Murray, MU's all-time leader in career hitting percentage, leads the BIG EAST this season with a mark of .386 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 12 league matches, Naber is averaging 3.71 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 .262 (1,118-342-2,960) on the year.
MU is ranked 21st in the NCAA's fifth RPI ranking of the season, which includes matches through Nov. 3.
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.

BUTLER (6-18, 4-8 BIG EAST)

Butler began the season 2-15 prior to three consecutive wins in BIG EAST play on Oct. 13-19 against Providence, Seton Hall and Georgetown. Last weekend BU defeated PC for a second time and was swept at UConn.
The Bulldogs are last in the BIG EAST with a combined hitting mark of .152 this season and are hitting just .138 in league action. They also allow opponents to hit a league-high .239 in all matches.
BU ranks fourth overall with 2.02 blocks per set, led by Grace Boggess (1.04) who sits fourth in the league individually.
Outside hitter Abby Maesch leads the squad with 3.38 kills per set to rank seventh in the BIG EAST, one spot behind MU's Hamilton. Elise Ward also averages 2.43 kills and 2.26 digs for BU.
The Bulldogs are led by head coach Kyle Shondell in his second season. He was 2022 AVCA National Coach of the Year with the NAIA men's program at Indiana Tech before heading to Butler.

SERIES HISTORY WITH BU:

Marquette is 21-9 all-time against Butler and has won each of the last six matches against the Bulldogs.
Save for five-set losses during the 2014, 2017 and 2020 regular seasons, MU has won 20 of 23 contests since the Bulldogs entered the BIG EAST for the 2013 campaign.
MU hit .342 to sweep the first matchup this season 25-18, 25-11, 25-20 on Oct. 6 at the Al McGuire Center. Natalie Ring had a career-best 13 kills in the win and MU combined for 10.0 team blocks, led by five from Ella Foti.

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 76.0 percent clip (234-74) since joining the league and is 149-30 (.833) in BIG EAST matches under head coach Ryan Theis.
MU is 111-15 (.881) 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 ON MILESTONE WATCH

Kills (1,000): Hamilton at 1,099 in MU career, Reitsma (854), Murray (739), Bray (681)
Digs (1,000): Anchante (877), Reitsma (855)
Assists (3,000): Anchante (3,007)
Blocks (400): Murray (390)
Aces (100): Reitsma (141), Foti (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.

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).