Marquette volleyball (9-5, 3-1 Big East) was never really given a chance to breathe Sunday afternoon, because DePaul (9-6, 2-2 Big East) was always right on its tail.
Every time there was a kill, the Blue Demons would return it. A pass would be shanked off the arms of a back row defender, and the next point would go out of bounds.
There were heads shaking and looks of defeat and frustration from players and coaches alike. But when the success was there, so was the excitement on the court.
Both the Golden Eagles and the Blue Demons traded points for two complete sets.
It wasn’t until the third frame that Marquette was able to work out its kinks and look like a completely different team, finishing off the job in a three-set sweep (25-23, 25-22, 25-15).
In the first set, there were 10 ties and six lead changes between the teams. In the third, only two ties and one lead change.
Teetering for a lead, the Blue Demons began to pull away and were up 19-16. But the Golden Eagles answered back with a 5-0 scoring run, putting them at 21-19 before they eventually closed it out. Both teams had five serving errors apiece.
Marquette didn’t look as cohesive as it did on Thursday night. Even though it fell to No. 14 Creighton in three sets, their execution on Sunday seemed different.
“I think we were still focused on our loss from Thursday,” first-year outside hitter Mari King said. “I think we were just overthinking everything.”
The theme stayed throughout the second set, but once there was more precision, once there was more momentum, changes happened.
“We started to just play free,” King said.
Per usual, senior outside hitter Natalie Ring led the team in kills (12), but there was a point in the first set where she was hitting negative (-.154).
“We’re always telling her, ‘We’re right behind you, who cares if you get blocked, just keep swinging,’” King said. “We need her to swing.”
Behind Ring came a variety of players who shared the wealth on front row attacks. Bray, who not only recorded a season high two aces, had eight kills at a hitting .438 percentage. Four other Golden Eagles finished with three or more kills.
Now the Golden Eagles travel out east on Friday, Oct. 10, where they will take on Seton Hall in the program’s first game outside of Milwaukee since Hawaii in August. The matchup is set to begin at 4 p.m. CST.
This recap was written by Raquel Ruiz. She can be reached at raquel.ruiz@marquette.edu or on Twitter/X @RaquelRuizMU.