Sept. 7, 2007

Final Stats

CHAMPAIGN - In a hot gym, in front of a rowdy opposing crowd, the Marquette volleyball team fell 3-0, (24-30, 22-30, 24-30) to the Illinois Fighting Illini, in the 2007 State Farm Classic in Champaign, Ill.

Senior Kim Todd led the Golden Eagles (2-4) with 12 kills, while junior Ashlee Fisher tallied 10. Junior Julie Richards tallied a team-high .444 hitting percentage. Senior Katie Weidner dished out 22 assists and junior Terri Angst collected 13 digs.

"It was a great effort from Julie Richards, she was really able to score some points and understand what she needed to do to help the team," head coach Pati Rolf said. "Caryn Mastandrea just had a great showing, she had some big blocks and helped us change our momentum. It's nice to see a young player take some steps forward. "Our defense and passing once again did an outstanding job, we've just got to continue to elevate our blocking and our offense."

Laura Debruler led the Illini (5-1) with a match-high 19 kills and a .381 hitting percentage. Lizzie Bazzeta dished out a match-high 43 assists, while Ashley Edinger collected 16 digs.

Marquette fell behind early in game one, but consecutive kills by Todd tied the game at four each. On serves by Hailey Viola, MU went on a 4-0 run and took a 7-4 lead. The Illini crept back and with both teams tied at 18, went on an 8-1, forcing two Marquette timeouts. Trailing 26-19 coming out of the break, the Golden Eagles put pressure on the Illini and came within three points, but could not connect, and dropped game one, 30-24. Fisher led the team with five kills and a .444 hitting percentage.

The second stanza opened with a 2-0 lead for the Golden Eagles, but the Illini capped off a 5-1 run and took a lead at 5-3. A kill by Fisher would tie the score at eight, but Illinois went on another 5-1 run and forced MU to take a timeout trailing, 13-9. Out of the break, Marquette pushed to within two points as Illinois still had a 17-15 lead, but a 6-2 Illini run forced the Golden Eagles to use their second timeout. MU would score just five points the remainder of the game and fell, 30-22. Marquette was held to a .000 hitting percentage, connecting on 11 kills, but also committing 11 errors.

Game three opened with Marquette trailing 8-5. A kill by Caryn Mastandrea brought the Golden Eagles within one point and they stayed close to the Illini. After an MU timeout, they put pressure on Illinois, and took the score 20-17, but could not finish, dropping the final game, 24-30.

Marquette will be back on the court Saturday at 12 p.m. when they face Tennessee in the consolation game of the State Farm Illini Classic.

Marquette Golden Eagles Women's Volleyball

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