The struggles against ranked teams continue.
After going 0-7 against ranked opponents last season in conference play, Marquette volleyball (1-2) is once again struggling against top-25 teams.
The No. 24 ranked Golden Eagles dropped their second straight game, 3-1 (25-21, 16-25, 22-25, 15-25) to the No. 13 Jayhawks of Kansas (5-0) Friday at the Al McGuire Center.
“I thought we won in the first ball, obviously we didn’t have a great fourth set,” head coach Ryan Theis said. “We were out-killing them for a large portion of it, but their transition numbers kept getting better.”
Golden Eagles’ offense can’t keep up
Marquette was on the brink of blowing a late lead in set one.
However, consecutive kills from middle blocker Carsen Murray, and outside hitters Aubrey Hamilton and Jenna Reitsma made sure that didn’t happen as the Golden Eagles took the first set 25-21.
Marquette had all the momentum it could’ve asked for — until it didn’t.
After hitting .350 in the first set, the Golden Eagles would not hit above. 270 in the final three frames of the match, finishing the match swinging just .204.
Although Marquette finished just three kills shy of Kansas’ total of 59, it was not able to sustain good play for as long as the Jayhawks.
“They did a nice job changing the matchups a little bit,” Theis said. “Sustained good play is significant, and Kansas did that for much longer periods of time than we did.”
Reitsma, who hit .500 enroute to a set-high six kills in set one, finished the match with 10 kills while hitting just .129. Hamilton had 14 kills to headline the Golden Eagles, who hit .204 for the match.
After not registering a kill in the first set, senior opposite hitter London Davis tallied 11 kills in the final three sets. Ayah Elnady led the Jayhawks with 14 kills — putting her in a tie with Hamilton for the match-high.
A game of runs
After hitting just .184 in the first set, Kansas woke up.
In set two, it was a 7-0 run that plagued the Golden Eagles. In set three, a 5-0 run and then a 4-0 run, and in set four, it was two 5-0 runs that put the nail in the coffin.
After trailing 20-14, Marquette were able to get it as close as 23-22 late in the third. However, consecutive attack errors from Hamilton and Murray would give Kansas the set win, 25-22.
Having to dig itself out of a six point hole was just a microcosm of how Friday went for the Golden Eagles.
“They got a little hot in that point run, and that just builds confidence and makes it tougher,” Theis said. “So when 21 (London Davis) goes for seven kills in the second, if we would’ve killed three of those on transition, could we have eliminated those by getting kills ourselves?”
Up next
Marquette gets a day of rest before it welcomes Western Michigan (2-1) to the Al McGuire Center Sunday. The opening serve is scheduled for 2 p.m. CST.
This story was written by Matthew Baltz. He can be reached at matthew.baltz@marquette.edu or on Twitter/X @MatthewBaltzMU.