Marquette volleyball didn’t forget its brooms.
The 5th seeded Golden Eagles brought with them to the Big Dance in Salt Lake City, along with the jerseys and water bottles and other equipment, their prized sweepers.
They’ve given 17 of their opponents this season a broom in parting, and in a 25-20, 25-22, 25-22 sweep over Florida Gulf Coast Thursday night in the first round of the NCAA tournament, they made it 18.
From the first serve to the last, it felt like the postseason. Two teams fighting tooth and nail in a back-and-forth match which required Marquette to pull out all the tools in the toolbelt, box and shed to win.
The Eagles — those from Florida — got 42 kills, the Golden Eagles — from Milwaukee — got 48. The Eagles amassed 40 assists, the Golden Eagles amassed 45.
In a match where the idea of tapping out was utterly fanciful to all parties involved, Marquette’s defense was the difference maker. The Golden Eagles finished with five blocks and 38 digs beating the Eagles’ four and 29 in respective categories.
It was the defense – taking the form of a solo block from Hattie Bray — that spurred a 7-0 Marquette run to win the first set. It was the defense — this time an assisted block between Bray and Yadhira Anchante — that gave the Golden Eagles their first lead of the second set, 3-2, and another block, between Bray and Ella Foti, that kickstarted a 6-2 run to take a commanding lead. Bray, whose on-court participation was in question after an ankle injury suffered at the end of the regular season, led Marquette with three blocks, her first set solo block being the only one earned from either team.
And when the on-net presence was less dominant in the third frame, the back row remained unfettered, digging 15 crucial times in a nail-biting finish which looked as though it could go either way.
The Golden Eagles never hit below .300 — .500 in the first, .344 in the second and .353 in the third — while, in contrast, the Eagles’ .314 clip in the second set was the only time they hit above .300.
Florida Gulf Coast finished with one double-digit killer in Skylar English (14) while Marquette had two: Aubrey Hamilton (14) and Natalie Ring (11), her last being the nail in the coffin.
The Golden Eagles’ defense did what it needed to do, and because of that, they have more life left in their season when they face the winner of No. 4 seed Utah and Charleston Friday night in the Round of 32.
This article was written by Jack Albright. He can be reached at jack.albright@marquette.edu or on Twitter/X @JackAlbrightMU.