The Golden Eagles start off Big East action with two home matches.
And now, Big East play.
For the second straight year, Marquette volleyball heads into Big East play with a losing record. They are 4-5 on the year so far, with losses to the teams currently ranked #1, #4, #7, and #9 in the AVCA top 25 this week. Their fifth loss is to a Western Michigan team that 1) earned AVCA top 25 votes in the preseason poll, 2) is picked to win the MAC, 3) is 4-7 on the year, and 4) has lost to the current #9 and #20 teams in the top 25, and they lost to #20 twice in a weird quirk of scheduling.
All of this is to say that Marquette currently has the 6th toughest schedule played in the country to this point of the year according to Evollve. I’d tell you what the NCAA’s RPI says, but the NCAA hasn’t put a ranking out yet.
So, no, it’s not great that Marquette has five losses already this season, but it’s not the worst thing ever. As long as the Golden Eagles take care of business and don’t take any losses worse than WMU — and there’s a lot of teams in the Big East worse than WMU — then they won’t have anything to worry about when it comes to tournament time.
By the way: Marquette is going to get a chance to have a winning non-conference record eventually. There’s still contests against Milwaukee (#146 in the Evollve rankings, 5-7 on the year) and Princeton (#177, 2-7) yet to come, and while those won’t be bowl you over with quality type situations, 6-5 is still better than 4-5. They’re also not absolute disaster teams…… unlike at least one of the two teams that MU will see at the McGuire Center this weekend.
The third match of Big East play? At Creighton coming up next Tuesday night on FS1, and the Bluejays are currently ranked #6 in the country. Focus on these two home games, and take a swing at your biggest league rival that’s also apparently a national championship contender.
REMINDER: Marquette’s home contests are streamed nearly exclusively on FloSports, as are all Big East home matches and all league schedule contests. If you are paying full price for FloSports at $30 a month, you are doing it wrong. Please use this link to pay less than half of that, and even less if you can use a Marquette.edu email address.
Big East Match #1: vs Connecticut Huskies (12-0)
Date: Friday, September 27, 2024
Time: 7pm Central
Location: Al McGuire Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Streaming: FloSports
Live Stats: Sidearm Stats
Twitter Updates: @MarquetteVB
Bluesky Updates: @AnonymousEagle
Marquette is 14-3 all time against UConn. All three losses happened in a row back in 2007, 2008, and 2009. The series took a break on a three match MU winning streak in 2013 when the Huskies got shoved into the American Athletic Conference, and the Golden Eagles have won eight more since. That includes a pair of Big East tournament encounters in 2021 and 2022. Marquette has lost just one set to UConn since the end of the 2021 regular season.
Yes, UConn is undefeated. Yes, that means they have the best record in the Big East. No, they haven’t played a high major opponent yet. Does that mean that we should be completely dismissive of what UConn has done here? No, not in the slightest. UConn was picked to finish ninth in the Big East this season, after all. Maaaaaaybe it’s going to be hard for them to find wins in league play. Maaaaaaybe the coaching staff needed to get this team on the same page with each other before Big East play started, and so they scheduled teams that they knew that the Huskies could beat.
All I can say is that Evollve has UConn at #262 in the country in strength of schedule at the moment, and their 12-0 record as them at #131 in the overall Evollve rankings. Is that good? No, not really, but it’s also fifth best in the Big East! Could be much worse! Looking at you, #265 and last in the league Providence.
Oh, is PC coming up on Sunday? Huh.
Anyway, back to UConn.
Emma Werkmeister is not that far off from having more attacks than the next two hitters on the UConn roster combined, and so, yeah, she’s leading the team in kills with 3.95 per set. She’s hitting .266 on the season, which isn’t too bad considering how often the Huskies turn to her. She also missed UConn’s most recent match, back last Saturday at home against Central Connecticut, so we’ll see what’s up with that. Taylor Pannell (2.86 kills/set) and Hanna Tylska (2.50) are the next two best attackers on the roster, and while they’ve both missed time this season, they were both in the lineup last time out.
Setter Doga Kutlu is one of just three Huskies to play in every set so far this season, and she’s averaging a very strong 10.00 assists per set. Kutlu is also #2 on the team in digs, which is interesting because 1) She’s only at 2.7 per set and 2) team leader McKenna Brand is only at 3.35 per set. I presume this is a “new two libero rule” thing, as Brand and fellow defensive specialist Brenna Wyman are the other two women to play in every set.
Marquette may have some interesting challenges at the net. Audrey Rome, Loren Winn, and Anna Herman are all averaging over a block per set this season, but only Rome has played in more than 30 of UConn’s 46 sets. I don’t know how much of that is head coach Ellen Herman-Kimball mixing and matching players during non-con action or making do with who was available on a night to night basis, but all three women did get on the court in the Central Connecticut match, so we’ll have to see how the Huskies challenge Marquette’s attackers.
Big East Match #2: vs Providence Friars (7-4)
Date: Sunday, September 29, 2024
Time: 1pm Central
Location: Al McGuire Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Streaming: FloSports
Live Stats: Sidearm Stats
Twitter Updates: @MarquetteVB
Bluesky Updates: @AnonymousEagle
Marquette is 19-0 all time against Providence. The only time Providence has ever won a set from Marquette came back in the first ever meeting in 1999. Every other encounter has come by way of Big East action after the Friars joined the volleyball part of the league starting with the 2014 campaign.
I know what you’re saying. “Hey, wait, didn’t you just slander Providence in the UConn section? They’re 7-4, can they really be that bad?”
They’re #330 in strength of schedule. Out of 348 teams.
Yes, they can. This is why Ryan Theis schedules like he does.
Shaliyah Rhoden is Providence’s top attacker so far this season, putting up 2.73 kills per set. That’s not ideal. In fact, given the fact that she’s hitting just .194, I have real questions about what PC thinks they’re doing. Kayla Grant is hitting .448 and Lyric Berry is at .345. I get that both Texans are middle blockers and that’s not How You’re Supposed To Do Things, but at some point, you have to start leaning on what’s working and not keep headbutting the brick wall.
Miller McDonald has played every set in every match this season, but she’s only averaging 5.57 assists per set. Audrey Kocon has appeared in 32 of the 44 sets on the year and she’s averaging 4.22 helpers in that time. Kocon hasn’t played in any of the last three matches for the Friars, so we’ll have to wait to see how the Friars go through their rotations on Sunday to see if they’re actually using two setters or not.