It was like watching two completely different teams.
From seven tie scores and two lead changes in the first set, to two quick, aggressive sets to follow, Marquette volleyball (15-9, 9-5 Big East) finished off its final regular season home match at the Al McGuire Center in a three-set sweep against the Seton Hall Pirates (6-19, 0-14 Big East) Sunday afternoon.
After rallying from the early mistakes, they found their “rhythm.” They found their way to play Marquette volleyball the way they know how.
“We don’t want to play to the level they’re bringing us,” graduate middle blocker Hattie Bray said. “We want to play our game. So it’s finding our rhythm and finding our confidence in our play.”
The Golden Eagles struggled to look like the NCAA Tournament team that they’re capable of being.
The Pirates were reading the court well. They found every hole where Marquette was lacking a defensive player. Anything that was out of reach, the ball would land perfectly in the empty space. This led to head coach Tom Mendoza calling for his first timeout, down 8-12.
But with a 7-1 run and a little bit of that Marquette volleyball action, Marquette was able to claw its way out of frustration (25-20).
Despite that first set ending with a total of six attack errors, three service errors and two reception errors, the mistakes didn’t roll over as much.
A different-looking team hit the ground running. When Natalie Ring is flying out of the middle-back and when the question of “What is Elena Radeff’s vertical” arises, the frustration that was previously seen on Marquette’s face in the first set had shifted over to the Pirates’ faces.
Especially when Bray was on the slide or got the block touch.
“She [Bray] is one of those [players] that other coaches, especially in the Big East, are saying, ‘She’s finally done? It seems like she’s been here forever,” Mendoza said.
Bray, who collected 11 kills while swinging at a .474, also added a team-high six blocks for the Golden Eagles.
For Seton Hall, attacking wasn’t nearly as efficient as the numbers Bray managed to put up. Senior Asli Subasili and sophomore Hanna Labanowska were firing the efficient shots for the Pirates. Finishing with seven kills apiece, it wasn’t enough to get them out of the drought in the front row.
While Marquette continued to find its “rhythm,” the Pirates were falling below the negative hitting percentage, and finished the set at -0.172, while the Golden Eagles swung .267, and the second set was theirs (25-11).
Continuing the blue & gold flow, Marquette was struggling to break away in the third set and saw some of those errors creep back into their gameplay. However, with a 3-0 scoring run of her own, Bray found the breakthrough they needed.
Mendoza shifted around his rotations, subbing in a variety of players, and it was senior right side hitter Sienna Ifill who closed out the final set with a kill (25-16).
Up next, the Golden Eagles travel out to Indianapolis Nov. 15 for a noon CT first serve against Butler at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
This recap was written by Raquel Ruiz. She can be reached at raquel.ruiz@marquette.edu or on Twitter/X @RaquelRuizMU.