Golden Eagles Sweep Western Kentucky in NCAA First Round

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Marquette University women's volleyball team (18-10, 11-5 BIG EAST) swept away seven-seed Western Kentucky (27-6, 15-1 CUSA) Friday afternoon in the NCAA Tournament First Round at the L&N Federal Credit Union Arena.

Natalie Ring led the Golden Eagles with 16 kills, while Emma Parks eclipsed her career-high with 12 kills. Hattie Bray added 11 kills and three blocks, while setter Isabela Haggard recorded a double-double with 34 assists and 11 digs and Adrianna Studer collected 11 digs.

Both teams traded points early, with the power arms for the squads leading the way. After being tied at seven each, Ring, Bray, and Emma Parks powered the MU offense with a trio of kills each, with a Parks finisher putting the Golden Eagles ahead 15-12 at the media timeout. MU kept the momentum, with a 3-0 run fueled by a Mari King ace, and Bray tallied another kill and an ace to put the Golden Eagles up 23-18. A Parks kill gave Marquette the set, 25-22, and a 1-0 lead in the match.

WKU started hot in the second, using a balanced attack to lead 4-2 early. MU roared back with a 4-0 run, powered by a pair of kills from Parks, to force a Hilltopper timeout and lead, 6-4. Western Kentucky settled in and knotted the match, where each team went back-and-forth for a large portion of the set. MU used a pair of kills from Natalie Ring to be the first to 20, and another kill from Ring along and kills from Bray and Keira Schmidt put the Golden Eagles up, 23-20. Another Ring kill, her 13th of the night, and a Parks kill gave MU the 25-21 set two win and a 2-0 match lead.

WKU again started with momentum in the third, but the strong attack of Bray and Ring powered MU to a 3-0 run and forcing a Hilltopper timeout, leading 11-9. The Golden Eagles began to roll, with Parks and the strong MU block powering the Golden Eagles to a 25-16 set three win, and a victory via the sweep.

NOTABLES

Natalie Ring extended her double-digit kills streak to 31 with xxx today, hitting the mark in every match since 11/30/2024.
Natalie Ring tied her career-high in assists with three.
Isabela Haggard recorded a double-double of 34 assists and 11 digs, her 10th of the season.
Emma Parks established a new career-high of 12 kills.
Hattie Bray set a new MU NCAA Tournament record in hitting percentage, hitting .786 (11 kills-14 attempts, 0 errors).
MU improved to 12-13 all-time in NCAA tournament play since making its debut appearance in 2011, and 9-5 in the opening round.
With the win, MU advanced to the second round for the ninth time in program history and the sixth-straight dating back to 2018.
MU will look to advance to the Regional Semifinals for the fourth time in program history tomorrow evening, and for the first time ever in back-to-back seasons.

POSTGAME COMMENTS

Marquette Head Coach Tom Mendoza

(Opening Statement)

"I'm just very happy for and grateful for the opportunity - again, [it's my] first year at Marquette - I'm grateful for the players that we have up here with us [Natalie Ring and Hattie Bray] and the ones that are down in the locker room. I'm proud of the effort they've put in throughout the entire year. Travis [Hudson] and Western Kentucky are a phenomenal program and coach, so to get to advance against a team like that, we're very proud of our performance and the ability to do that. The opportunity to coach at Marquette is a great opportunity, so I'm glad to be here and get to work with [Ring and Bray], especially with the transition and everything that happened last spring of changing coaches and all of that. The fact that Nat and Hattie had the faith in the program to stay and help build - I'm glad that they got rewarded for that."

(On Emma Parks career high of 12 kills)

"I believe we have a Marquette record for hitting percentage in an NCAA game and then obviously Nat [Natalie Ring] with an incredible game all around as well. Emma's been a huge piece for us. A lot of teams scout and plan for Addie, Nat, and the offense. Elena's [Radeff] picked up and done a great job as well. [Kiera] Schmidt had some really important kills whether it was over passes or swings. There is no question that an outside hitter, especially the outside hitter that is lined up opposite of Nat is going to be a huge piece for us and she has obviously done a great job progressing as the season's gone on. We started the year not knowing if she was going to redshirt. Ella started the year and had an injury. So, Emma has just done a phenomenal job and the players, especially the older players, have supported her really well. I thought we put her in really good situations and she was aggressive. We tell them all the time if you're aggressive, we trust the outcome. Especially in her first NCAA game, I am really proud of her for having the courage to be aggressive in those situations."

(Three keys to beating WKU and adjusting throughout the match)

"I liked our defensive work rate. I think eventually we got better at both blocking on the front row and then defending on the back row as the match went on. To answer your question, I think that was a big difference as we went into the third set – being able to finally score some points on a serve. Because they are top five in the country in hitting percentage, so you know they are going to be able to kill the ball inside out. Finally, we started making some good body position adjustments. Serving aggressive [and] swinging aggressive, even when they didn't get kills, if we could get them out of system [where] we didn't have to defend three Western Kentucky hitters, it allowed us to go get our blocks set up. One of our things all week was stay aggressive, even if we don't get kills, we need to stay aggressive. It is easy to talk about, but again credit to our players for sticking to that and having the courage to go take those swings as the match went on, especially in some really important situations. We served really well, got a couple of key aces. Bella in serve-receive did a great job allowing us to side out with them until we were finally able to slow down their offense. We needed all those aspects."

(On how the teams were different from the last time they played)

Hattie Bray, Grad, MB

"We both had slightly different lineups today than when we played in September, but I think we all came out with the same fire and they have a system that they run and we have the system that we run, and that wasn't changing even if the lineups changed. We felt confident in our system and how the players on the court were going to execute that and we just had to do a good job with that tonight."

Natalie Ring, Sr., OH

"Just second everything, we both have very distinct systems that we run in our play and just kind of maintain the focus that we had the first time we played. Having the same level of intensity even though were not on our home court."

(On what sparked them in the match tonight)

Hattie Bray, Grad, MB

"Our team is just really good at building off of each other. We come into the huddle and we're cheering one another on all the time, so I think just keeping that positive energy and good intensity. I think we're really good at keeping that going and pushing to have that lead in the score."

Natalie Ring, Sr., OH

"I agree and I think we did a really good job of maintaining composure even if they were within a couple of points and knowing that if we maintain our level of play we were going to push ahead and to have confidence in that and in that press was what helped us build that lead and ultimately finish the set."