I’ve been trying to figure out the right compliment for how Marquette volleyball went about their business on Saturday afternoon in Kentucky, and I think I can hit the right note this way: Marquette made
#2 seed and host Louisville beat them.
Marquette had a 2-1 set lead on the road against the #2 seed in their NCAA tournament region and the #9 ranked team in the country according to the AVCA poll. It wasn’t a fluke to win the first set 25-21, not when it was back and forth the whole way and MU closed the frame on a 6-3 stretch, not when MU outhit Louisville .429 to .371. It wasn’t a fluke to win the third set 25-23, not when Marquette went up 8-1 out of the gate, let Louisville back in to the point where the Cardinals tied it at 19-all and leading 23-22. Marquette could have buckled right there against a great volleyball team, one with players that were in the national championship match one year ago.
But they didn’t, and two kills from Natalie Ring — who was outstanding in this match, hitting .324 for a career high 29 kills and adding six digs and four assisted blocks — closed the set out and put Marquette out in front.
Yes, the second set was very lopsided at 25-11 for the Cardinals. That emphasizes the point of Marquette turning around and stomping out that 8-1 lead in the third and fighting through a Louisville rally to win it anyway. Yes, the fourth set could have gone better with UL up 12-5 early and using that lead to hold Marquette off for a 25-19 set win.
And yes, the fifth set did not start well with Louisville getting out to a 5-1 lead. When you’re playing to 15, that’s not really what you want. And yet, there’s Natalie Ring, putting up one of her kills to make it 8-7 midway through. Marquette was right there when it mattered, letting Louisville know that the remaining seven points to win would not be fun or easy for the Cardinals. There’s Natalie Ring again, going back-to-back on kills to make it 12-10 and force Louisville into a timeout to gather themselves to close the match out.
They did, even with another kill from Ring and a service error from Louisville’s Payton Petersen with the set and thus the match on the line, leaving the score at 14-12. It wasn’t over, not yet. Marquette made Louisville make play after play after play to beat them, and when you look back and say that it’s possible that this kind of a performance by Marquette could have turned around any of MU’s losses this season, that they saved one of their best nights for last, that’s not the worst thing in the world.
Natalie Ring is obviously the headliner here, but Marquette got great nights from a lot of people, and that’s what you need if you’re going to make a #2 seed worried about their outcome. Hattie Bray had 11 kills while hitting .310 and ended her Marquette career with a season high nine blocks. Elena Radeff joined Ring & Bray with double digit kills, getting to 10 on a .476 hitting night and she added seven digs and four blocks. Isabela Haggard’s second ever NCAA tournament match goes into the Marquette record books, as she posted 55 assists, the most by any Golden Eagle in the NCAA tournament. Adriana Studer tied for the match high in digs, getting 20 to end up even with UL’ss Kamden Schrand.
Let’s close out with highlights, courtesy of GoMarquette.com and ESPN+.
One last thing! THANK YOU to Marquette’s seniors: Hattie Bray, Morgan Daugherty, Allyson Eckel, Ella Holmstrom, Sienna Ifill, Allie Korba, Elena Radeff, and Adriana Studer. The fourth year seniors in the group are the first players in Marquette history to win an NCAA tournament match in each of their four seasons on campus. This may have not been the best season of your time at Marquette, and it certainly was an eventful run of time since the calendar switched to 2025. But no matter what, you kept on going and it ended up being a pretty good season and a great way to go out. A very big Anonymous Eagle THANK YOU to each and every one of you, and Marquette fans everywhere wish you nothing but the best in whatever comes next.
Follow Anonymous Eagle on social media
Facebook: AnonymousEagle
Instagram: AnonymousEagleSBN
Bluesky: AnonymousEagle
