St. John’s just couldn’t get into rythm.
Everytime the Red Storm fired home a point, had a block or an ace, Marquette women’s volleyball was there to stand in their way.
Thanks to 14 kills from outside hitter Aubrey Hamilton and a .358 hitting percentage as a team, the Golden Eagles (17-6, 11-1 Big East) were able to deliver their fourth consecutive sweep Sunday afternoon at the Al McGuire Center over the same team that defeated them in the semifinals of the Big East Tournament last year on their home floor: St. John’s (16-10, 5-7 Big East).
“They do some things very well,” head coach Ryan Theis said. “I was happy our offense was able to score enough points to win.”
The third set was a much different story for Marquette than the previous two had been. The Golden Eagles trailed for the majority of the set.
However, just as it had done all game, the Red Storm continued to struggle from the service line, giving Marquette a chance down the stretch.
Trailing 20-17, the Golden Eagles watched Wiktoria Kowalczyk sail one out of bounds to bring them within two. Three points later, Theis challenged a Hamilton attack that was originally ruled out of bounds, and was successful in getting it reversed.
Just like that, the crowd was back into it and Marquette trailed by just one as St. John’s seemed to slightly be on its heels.
After losing the following point, middle blocker Hattie Bray and Hamilton fired off consecutive kills to bring tie things up at 22.
After being once again knotted up at 24 a piece, kills from middle blocker Carsen Murray and outside hitter Natalie Ring would help seal Marquette’s eighth sweep of conference play.
Marquette opened up the first set with an 9-6 lead. The following two points — both kills from middle blocker Ludovica Zola — would set the pace for the rest of the frame. The two squads were tied 11 different times in the opening set, but it was ultimately the Golden Eagles that pulled away.
Leading 20-19, Marquette would benefit from back-to-back attack errors from outside hitter Giorgia Walther. St. John’s signalled for timeout, but it wouldn’t matter.
Thanks to a .424 hitting percentage, the Golden Eagles were able to come away with the first set, 20-25.
The second set would provide more of the same, as every time Marquette would try and extend its lead, the Red Storm would be there to counter.
Right side hitter/setter Erin Jones, who did not look like her usual All-Big East caliber hitter self, came alive for six kills in the second.
“A lot of it was serving [Jones] out of being an option…” Murray said. “That just makes it easier to defend in general, but also just understanding…kind of the team’s tendencies as a whole, really helped us be able to effectively defend her, because she’s a very good player.”
Jones, who had just one kill in that first frame, finished the match with 11 kills, tying her seventh lowest mark this season.
“She’s trying do a lot for ’em,” Theis said. “So if you can stop that first ball that she does, I think you got a transition defense against her.”
Leading 17-15, the Golden Eagles got a pair of kills from outside hitter Natalie Ring to extend the advantage to four. St. John’s once again signalled for timeout. But just as it had in the first set, the timeout did not provide much relief.
The Golden Eagles took the second frame 25-21, thanks to another six kill set from Hamilton.
Marquette once again hit above .400 for the set, swinging another impressive mark of .405.
The Golden Eagles had three service aces in the set, including back-to-back ones to start the frame by Reitsma. The Red Storm committed five service errors to Marquette’s three.
This story was written by Matthew Baltz. He can be reached at matthew.baltz@marquette.edu or on Twitter/X @MatthewBaltzMU.