Marquette volleyball heads to the East Coast

(MARQUETTE COMMUNICATIONS) MILWAUKEE – The Marquette University women’s volleyball team hits the road for three matches on the East Coast this weekend at Seton Hall, Princeton and Georgetown.

The Golden Eagles begin the trip at Walsh Gymnasium in South Orange, New Jersey against SHU at 4 p.m. Central time on Friday before heading to a non-conference matchup with Princeton on Saturday. The match against the Tigers at Dillon Gymnasium is slated for 12:30 p.m. CT on airs live on ESPN+. Friday’s contest against SHU airs on FloSports, while Sunday’s 1 p.m. match against Georgetown at McDonough Arena will be accessible through GUHoyas.com.

Links for live statistics for all three matches are available on the women’s volleyball schedule page of GoMarquette.com.

At the conclusion of the current stretch of six matches in 10 days, MU returns to Milwaukee to open the month of November against Villanova (Nov. 1) and St. John’s (Nov. 3) at the Al McGuire Center.

MARQUETTE (12-6, 7-1 BIG EAST)

• Outside hitter Aubrey Hamilton leads the Golden Eagles with 3.51 kills per set, while also averaging 2.30 digs and 0.70 blocks. Setter Yadhira Anchante has helped MU hit a combined .257 this season and averages 10.38 assists per frame and a team-best 3.27 digs. The pair was honored on Monday for their role in last week’s wins over DePaul and Xaiver with BIG EAST weekly accolades. Hamilton was named BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week after averaging 5.13 kills and 3.63 digs per set in the two victories.
• Hamilton became the 14th player to reach 1,000 in a MU uniform in Friday’s win over DePaul with a career-high 28 kills.
• In the current six-match winning streak since the loss at Creighton on Oct. 1, outside hitter Natalie Ring is averaging 3.67 kills per set on a hitting mark of .325 (66-16-154). Hamilton is averaging 4.48 kills on .298 hitting with 2.67 digs and 0.48 blocks per set.
• Ring posted a career-best 13 kills in the first match after that CU loss on Oct. 6 against Butler, and has tallied the mark in each of the last two contests against Xavier and Milwaukee.
• Middle blocker Carsen Murray, MU’s all-time leader in career hitting percentage, leads the BIG EAST this season with a mark of .393 in all matches.
• Anchante has a team-best 13 double doubles this season, posted her 2,500th career assist at No. 1 Pitt on Sept. 22.
• She currently has 2,846 assists in her MU career, six assists behind Lauren Speckman (2,852 assists; 2016-19) for fifth in program history. Anchante is also closing in on AVCA Third Team All-American Elizabeth Koberstein (2012-12) for fourth in MU history with 2,868.
• Anchante leads the squad with 209 total digs and ranks eighth in the BIG EAST in digs per set (3.27) all matches.
• Sophomore Molly Berezowitz and senior Samantha Naber have split duties as MU’s primary libero since conference play began and average 2.40 and 2.54 digs per set, respectively. Junior Adriana Studer has served as MU’s alternate libero in each match alongside either Berezowitz or Naber.
• The Golden Eagles have raised their hitting percentage since the start of BIG EAST play and are hitting .257 (892-281-2380) on the year.
• MU is ranked 28th in the NCAA’s third RPI ranking of the season, which includes matches through Oct. 21.
• Marquette began conference play with the seventh-toughest strength of schedule in the country according to the NCAA Division I Massey Ratings.
• Eight of MU’s 10 nonconference matches so far this fall have come against squads that competed in the 2023 NCAA tournament.

SETON HALL (8-11, 2-6 BIG EAST)

• The Pirates are 2-6 in BIG EAST play with their two victories coming in five sets at Providence on Oct. 4 and at home against Georgetown on Oct. 16.
• SHU is hitting .191 this season and has five players averaging at least 2.00 kills per set, led by Madison Loiselle’s 2.58 kills per frame. Loiselle is hitting a combined .290 on the year, while SHU’s No. 2 kill leader Jenna Walsh averages 2.38 per stanza and hits just .154.
• Middle blocker Asli Subasili led the BIG EAST in blocks per set last week (1.86) and was named to the league’s weekly honor roll on Monday. Subasili had seven blocks in the sweep of the Hoyas and six in Saturday’s four-set loss to Butler. She sits third in the league in all matches this season with 0.43 service aces per set (29 total) and averages a team-best 0.94 blocks per frame (63 total).
• Head coach Shannon Thompson is in her third season at Seton Hall.

SERIES HISTORY WITH SHU:

• Marquette leads the all-time series with the Pirates, 24-5, and all 29 meetings have come since MU joined the BIG EAST for the 2005 season.
• The Golden Eagles have won each of the last 15 meetings.
• MU won both meetings last season, including a 3-1 victory over SHU in South Orange on Oct. 13. The Pirates claimed the second set, 25-19, in that one, but MU responded with 25-14 and 25-19 wins in the third and fourth.
• Hamilton led MU at SHU last season with 18 kills and a hitting mark of .425 (18-1-40). The Golden Eagles hit .270 as a team at Walsh Gymnasium and .349 in the Nov. 18 sweep last season in Milwaukee. The Pirates scored just 31 total points in the loss at MU.

PRINCETON (8-9, 6-2 IVY)

• Princeton started the year with five-set wins over Old Dominion and Loyola Maryland before dropping seven-straight matches heading into Ivy League play.
• The Tigers played a challenging non-conference slate, which included five-set defeats at the hands of Duke, St. John’s and High Point, in addition to matches against Villanova and Penn State.
• Outside hitter Kamryn Chaney enters the weekend at 19th in NCAA Division I with 4.41 kills per set. The 6-foot-1 sophomore also leads the Tigers with 26 service aces (0.41/set) and averages 2.25 digs per frame, the second-highest mark on the squad.
• Setter Sydney Draper is second in the Ivy with 9.62 assists per frame and has led Princeton to a season-long hitting mark of .270, a line that ranks No. 25 in NCAA Division I.

SERIES HISTORY WITH PRINCETON:

• The two programs have never met.

GEORGETOWN (8-12, 1-7 BIG EAST)

• The Hoyas began the season 7-2, following six-straight victories from Sept. 6-14, which concluded with a 3-1 win over cross-town foe George Washington.
• Georgetown’s lone victory in BIG EAST play is a 3-1 win at Providence on Oct. 5 and GU has lost its last four matches.
• Last weekend, the Hoyas were swept at both Seton Hall and Butler.
• Georgetown is hitting a combined .219 and has a pair of players that rank in the top six in the BIG EAST in blocks per set. Vaughan Anoa’I and Berkeley Ploder average 1.13 and 1.00 blocks per set, respectively and the Hoyas sit second in the league with 2.30 per frame as a team.
• The Hoyas rank fourth in the BIG EAST with 12.99 kills per set and are led by 3.37 by Dionna Mitchell.
• Head coach AJ Bonetti is in his second season as head coach at Georgetown after five seasons as an assistant coach at Maryland.

SERIES HISTORY WITH GU:

• MU holds a 23-4 edge in the all-time series and has won each of the last 20 meetings. Over that time, the Hoyas have won just three of 63 total sets.
• The lone matchup prior to MU’s entrance to the BIG EAST in 2005 was a four-set win by the Hoyas in Sept. 1996.
• The Golden Eagles swept both of last year’s matchups, including a road win on Nov. 10 in which outside hitter Jenna Reitsma recorded a career-high seven service aces to reach 100 in her college career.