Volleyball drops 3-1 match to Western Michigan

Box Score (PDF)

MILWAUKEE – The No. 24 Marquette University women's volleyball team fell to Western Michigan University, 25-21, 25-20, 21-25, 25-22, on Sunday afternoon at the Al McGuire Center.

The Golden Eagles (1-3) took the third set but could not complete the comeback while hitting a combined .175 on the afternoon. MU pulled ahead from a 6-6 tie in the third to go ahead 14-8 and held off WMU, 25-21, after jumping to a 22-17 advantage.

Aubrey Hamilton and Carsen Murray had 12 and 12 kills, respectively, on the day but MU posted 24 hitting errors and nine miscues from the service line.

Mary Clare Brusek hit .594 with 20 kills and one attack error on 32 attempts, while outside hitter Keona Salesman landed 20 kills for the Broncos (3-2). Western Michigan libero Andelyn Simkins had a match-best 39 digs and WMU had 102 as a team.

"Their ball control is outstanding and they used defensive specialists for all pins and are a great behind the block defensive team," MU head coach Ryan Theis said. "And then their block touches were controlling us at the net. We needed to turn block touches off the block for points or around it with heat. It's just a really good defensive effort by them."

NOTABLE:

Marquette posted a season-high 97 digs, led by a career-high 21 from sophomore libero Molly Berezowitz.
MU's Natalie Ring started for the first time this season and contributed nine kills, eight digs and a block.
Western Michigan is the unanimous preseason Mid-American Conference favorite and posted one of its best seasons in program history in 2023 with a 31-3 record and a 18-0 ledger in MAC play. The Broncos won the MAC tournament crown and advanced to the NCAA Second Round after defeating seventh-seeded Auburn.
Entering the match, MU had split its all-time series with Western Michigan, 4-4, following a 1-1 tie in the first meeting on Sept. 28, 1979 in East Lansing, Michigan.

UP NEXT: The Golden Eagles head to Bowling Green, Kentucky this coming week for the Hyatt Place Invitational at E.A. Diddle Arena. They'll take on the host Western Kentucky Hilltoppers at 11 a.m. Central time on Friday before a 12:30 p.m. neutral site contest against No. 22 Dayton on Saturday.

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).