Asking the Golden Eagles to go out to Palo Alto and come back with a 2-0 record, meaning they beat #4 Stanford, was a big ask. As mostly speaking expected, Marquette only went 1-1 on their visit to California, beating South Florida 3-0 (25-16, 25-22, 25-19) on Saturday afternoon before falling in four sets to the top five ranked Cardinal on scores of 25-20, 25-18, 20-25, and 25-12. Marquette is now 2-3 on the season, but that’s with two losses to two teams ranked in the top five of the AVCA poll
at the time.
A 4-0 burst to take an 8-4 lead early in the first set against the Bulls was the key to Marquette’s opening set victory on Saturday. The lead blossomed to as many as eight before ending up at nine on a set ending attack error by USF’s Addy Brus. In the second, Marquette went up 9-5, but this time they couldn’t keep South Florida at arm’s length. A kill from Paula Tomasa tied the frame at 11 and started a 4-0 USF run that had them up 14-11. The two teams stayed tangled together as South Florida contained Marquette’s hitting after the Golden Eagles went for .483 in the opening set but just .235 in the second. A misfire by Tani Juric pulled the Bulls back even with MU at 22-all, but the Golden Eagles cleared the deck after that. A standard issue kill from Carson Tyler, a joust/block type kill from Molly Welge, and an attack error from USF’s Mora Pampin was enough for a 3-0 burst and the second set win.
For a while, the third set was a lot more like the second set. Neither team could get separation, and a kill by Pampin pulled South Florida within two at 17-15. A setting error and two blocks by Tyler and Welge generated a little 3-0 punch for the Golden Eagles, and now they were up five with the end in sight. The Bulls never got closer than three the rest of the way and Marquette closed it out with three straight points, all on kills, spreading it around from Welge, Luanna Markus, and Emma Parks.
Carson Tyler continues to be For Real, putting up a team high 14 kills on .407 hitting, and she gets to a team high 10 digs for a double-double, too. Emma Parks had a good day as Marquette’s #2 attacker on total number of swings, getting 11 kills and hitting .364. With this particular setup, Tani Juric’s seven kills on 15 attempts and .267 hitting is just fine, and same goes for Molly Welge and six on 14 tries for .286. Luanna Markus was outstanding on her deliveries, setting MU up for 39 assists in just three sets.
How about some highlights, courtesy of GoMarquette.com and ESPN+?
On Sunday, Stanford didn’t look like the #4 team in the country relative to what Marquette was doing until the final four points of the first set. The frame was sitting at 21-20 after a Carson Tyler kill, and at that point, it was clearly on deck for MU to have a chance to swipe it away. Alas, four straight kills from the Cardinal changed that around, and they won 25-20. In the second set, Marquette was holding their own and up 10-8 early on. A Tyler service error started off a 6-0 Stanford run, and MU was in trouble from there. The Golden Eagles didn’t totally fall off, but from 19-16 after a Logan Parks attack error, Stanford tacked on four straight to get within two of 25 and coast home from there.
The third set is the one that Marquette took from Stanford. An early 6-1 run had them up 10-3, but the Cardinal didn’t wither. An ace from Parks pulled the home team within two, 18-16, and an Annika Kowalski service error had MU up by just two, 19-17. The Golden Eagles responded with four straight, two on kills from Tyler and Emma Parks and two on errors by the Cardinal, and that was enough to maintain the margin to get to a fourth set.
The fourth frame fell apart after a kill from Luanna Markus had Marquette up 6-5 early. Blink and you’ll miss the Cardinal going up 14-8, and MU was officially in trouble. 19-12 was lopsided enough, but Marquette didn’t score again as Stanford got the last six points of the match, and they got the first four of them on Marquette errors, three by way of blocks.
Marquette hit just .171 as a team here, which is generally speaking not going to be good enough to beat a top five team, and definitely not when they hit .307. It was a bad day for Carson Tyler, who had a team high 12 kills, but hit just .114 on her 44 attacks to get there. Emma Parks hit just .097 on 31 swings, and at that point, it doesn’t really matter that Tani Juric hit a respectable .258 and put up 11 kills. Luanna Markus had just 36 assists here, which is obviously under the elite mark of 10 assists per set in a four set match.
How about some highlights, courtesy of GoMarquette.com and ACC Network Extra?
Up Next: More Illinois than you can shake a stick at! In a bit of a scheduling rarity, Marquette will play a home and home series against the Fighting Illini completely contained within next weekend. It’s the MU home opener at 5pm Central on Friday, September 11 — you can thank FS1 picking up the broadcast for the odd start time — and then 3pm Central on Sunday, September 13, at Huff Hall in Champaign. B1G+ has the broadcast there, so thanks for nothing, FS1. The Illini are 3-2 on the year after starting out 1-2 with losses to Cincinnati and then-#22 Tennessee. They beat McNeese State and Rice this weekend and will host Lindenwood on Wednesday night before making the trip north.
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