For the third time in program history, No. 5 Marquette volleyball has danced its way to the Sweet 16.
STILL DANCIN’
@NCAAVolleyball#WeAreMarquette | #NCAAWVB pic.twitter.com/B2lY6NffRL
— Marquette Volleyball (@MarquetteVB) December 7, 2024
Hoping that the third time is a charm, they now will face No. 1 seed Penn State.
Here’s what we know about both teams:
The Blue and Gold
The fifth seeded Golden Eagles are coming off of a five-set thriller Friday evening, after taking down fourth seeded Utah.
Marquette is looking to do something the program hasn’t been able to do before: make it to the Elite Eight.
Once again, the Golden Eagles will look to those of their senior class. A team who led the way to three-straight Big East regular season titles (2021, 2022 and 2023) and their second-ever appearance in the Sweet 16 (2022).
Among the seniors, lies graduate student setter Yadhira Anchante. Transferring in before the 2022 season, Anchante has made a name for herself in the Marquette record books, and is ranked 16th in the nation for total assists.
Names like Aubrey Hamilton, Carsen Murray, Ella Foti and others, have done their duties on the Al McGuire court, and will look to continue their careers this weekend at University Park.
Marquette played a very difficult non-conference schedule, so it’s not like their season has been anything easy.
The Golden Eagles played against seven teams that made the NCAA Tournament, including the No. 1 overall seed, Pitt, and two No. 2 seeds, Stanford and Wisconsin.
Though they fell to each of those teams, the experience has set them up for Friday. Another opportunity presents itself for the team to leave it all on the court again in hopes for a cinderella story.
The Navy and White
For the Nittany Lions, a 3-1 defeat of North Carolina prompted them to host a NCAA Regional at Rec Hall for the first time since 2017, where they now welcome the Golden Eagles.
The win allowed them to pull away with a still-undefeated home record of 18-0. Friday, they look to make it 19-0.
Penn State (31-2) has had just over 50% of their victories come via 3-0 sweeps. Marquette will have to position themselves around Penn State’s offense. Especially from the outside.
Senior outside hitter Jess Mruzik, has 470 kills on the season and is averaging 4.20 kills per set. The Golden Eagles will try to time their blocks, but the 6-foot-2 Livonia, Mich., native will find her way around it. The rotation may change, but running the outside, finding the deep corners of the court, will be nothing different than the offense they’ve ran all season.
How to follow
Watch: ESPN2 will feature the broadcast at 2:30 p.m. CST.
Live updates: Follow @MatthewBaltzMU and @MUWireSports on Twitter/X.
This article was written by Raquel Ruiz. She can be reached at raquel.ruiz@marquette.edu or on Twitter/X @RaquelRuizMU.