The key for Marquette volleyball on Sunday against DePaul was to win. They were coming off a three set loss to #14 Creighton on Thursday, and the last thing the Golden Eagles need is to let one mostly expected loss turn into two losses in a row at home. It doesn’t need to be showy, it just needs to be a win.
For two sets at the McGuire Center, it was not showy, but it was two wins. Marquette beat DePaul 25-23 in the first and then 25-22 in the second while never hitting north of .260 in either frame.
Holding the Blue Demons to sub-.175 hitting in both frames did a lot of lifting for the Golden Eagles there, but it was never comfortable. In fact, it was a little dangerous. Marquette led by three at a couple of spots in the first, but DePaul roared back each time, and the visitors were actually up 19-16 after a Mari King service error. MU responded with five straight to go up 21-19, but the Blue Demons tied it right up. Two DePaul errors gave MU the edge back, a third moved Marquette to set point, and finally, one last DePaul error — technically a Keira Schmidt/Elena Radeff block — wrapped it up.
Set #2 was a lot of the same, including DePaul taking three point leads early. Marquette powered up with a 7-2 burst, but DePaul was able to keep holding on and staying close. Tied at 20, tied at 21, tied at 22….. and then three straight for Marquette ended the frame. We can’t say “from” because only one was a kill, this time from Hattie Bray. The final two points of the frame were misfires by the Blue Demons.
I don’t know if head coach Tom Mendoza made a notable adjustment in between sets here or if the magic just wore off for DePaul. In any case, 5-3 Marquette turned into 14-5 Marquette, and after a brief flurry to cut the margin to 17-13, the Golden Eagles pushed away from the table for the 25-15 win and the sweep. PRO TIP: Hitting .419 and holding your opponent to .032 helps you win.
It was a rough outing from Natalie Ring, who led in kills with 12, but at a .182 hitting clip, it took her 33 swings to get there, just a touch more than twice as many as anyone else. Elena Radeff (.385), Hattie Bray (.438), and Kiera Schmidt (.385) all had efficient days, and Isabela Haggard didn’t do too much, converting just five attacks to three kills without an error.
How about some highlights, courtesy of GoMarquette.com and ESPN+?
Up Next: Marquette’s 13 match homestand is finally over. For the first time since the first weekend of the season, the Golden Eagles will play somewhere other than Milwaukee for their next two matches. They’ll be in New Jersey on Friday to face Seton Hall at 4pm Central, and then move over to New York to face St. John’s 24 hours later. The Pirates are 6-9 overall and 0-4 in the Big East after losing in five sets to Providence on Saturday, while the Red Storm fell to UConn on Saturday to drop to 5-12 overall and 1-3 in the league.
