Golden Eagles Blitz Butler in Saturday- Afternoon Sweep

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - The Marquette University women's volleyball team (16-9, 10-5 BIG EAST) blitzed Butler (12-16, 5-10 BIG EAST) in straight sets Saturday afternoon on the road.

Marquette was led by Hattie Bray's dominant all-around afternoon, posting 12 kills on .526 hitting along with eight blocks. Natalie Ring added 11 kills, two aces, and three blocks, while Elena Radeff contributed five kills and an ace. Isabela Haggard paced the offense with 26 assists, four kills, eight digs, and a career-high five blocks, while Keira Schmidt hit .500 with four kills and four blocks. Libero Adriana Studer rounded out the effort with a team-high 12 digs and two aces as MU finished at .341 hitting.

Marquette controlled the opening frame with steady side-out rhythm and timely swings from Ring and Bray, then slammed the door with a dominant closing stretch. After taking a 19–16 lead, the Golden Eagles rolled off the final six points, fueled by a Radeff ace, multiple blocks, and Ring's late kill, before Bray ended it with a solo stuff to secure the set, 25–16.

MU battled through a tight early stretch before taking control midway, using a momentum-shifting run sparked by Ally Eckel's serve to flip a 12–14 deficit into a 15–14 lead. From there, the Golden Eagles leaned on steady offense from Ring and Haggard while tightening up defensively, holding Butler to just two points during a key 6–0 surge out of the media timeout. Ring delivered multiple late kills to keep MU in front, and after Butler staved off a few set points, she finished the frame again with a kill to close out the second set, 25–20.

The Golden Eagles blitzed Butler from the opening serve in the third, racing out to a 7–1 lead behind a dominant serving run from Studer and a pair of early kills from Bray. MU controlled the net throughout the set, with Bray and Schmidt combining on multiple blocks as the margin quickly ballooned into double digits. Ring and Bray kept the offense rolling in transition, and Schmidt added a late kill and solo block to shut the door. Marquette closed out the frame comfortably, taking the third set 25–14, and the match, 3-0.

NOTABLES

MU only committed eight attack errors in the match, their lowest since recording the same against Milwaukee on 9/14/25. MU also had their highest hitting percentage (.341) as a team since that same Milwaukee match
Isabela Haggard totaled a career-high five blocks
Natalie Ring extended her double-digit kills streak to 28 with 11 today, hitting the mark in every match since 11/30/2024
Hattie Bray recorded fewer than two errors and 10+ kills (12 kills, 2 errors today) for the fifth time this season, and second match in a row
Hattie Bray (12) and Natalie Ring (11) combined for double-digit kills for the 11th time this season, and the fifth time in the past six matches