Sept. 20, 2008

American-Marquette Box Score

Oregon State-Marquette Box Score

MILWAUKEE -- The Marquette women's volleyball team went 1-1 on opening day action in the Marquette Cheese Bowl, defeating American, 3-2 (29-27, 16-25, 22-25, 25-18, 16-14) after dropping the noon match with Oregon State, 3-1 (25-19, 25-10, 23-25, 25-19).

"I think the ladies are learning a lot, quickly," said head coach Pati Rolf. "I thought we had a much more consistent game against American than against Oregon State. When things weren't going our way the team stuck it out and manufactured some points."

The Golden Eagles fell behind in the first set as American got out to a 2-0 lead before MU tied the set at 2-2 on a kill from senior Ashlee Fisher. From that point both teams exchanged the lead in a frame that saw nine ties. MU got out to as much as a four point lead and led 24-20 after a service error by American's Rubena Sukaj. American then rallied to tie the score at 24-24 forcing Marquette to take a time out. The set then went on to be tied at 25-25, 26-26, and 27-27 before MU put the set away on a kill by sophomore Rabbecka Gonyo.

"We got some excellent work up front by Katie Vancura, Rabbecka Gonyo, Tiara Russell and Caryn Mastandrea," said Rolf "That really forced American to try to score other ways and got them out of their rhythm."

In the second frame, Marquette fell behind 5-0 and never led, falling 25-16. American's attack percentage in the second was .481 compared to .067 for the Golden Eagles.

The third started similar to the first, but MU was unable to pull out the set victory. Trailing 24-20, Marquette fought back to put the score at 24-22 before American took the set, 25-20. In the third, junior setter Caryn Mastandrea had 17 assists to lead the Golden Eagles while Ashlee Fisher had six kills on only one error.

In the fourth stanza, Marquette and American traded the lead early on with American eventually taking a 10-8 lead. From that point, MU reeled off 11 of the next 12 points to go up 19-11. Although American fought back to close the gap to six points Marquette won the set, 25-18.

Both teams struggled getting the ball over the net in the fifth set as American's attack percentage in the frame was .029, while MU fared a little better at .067. After American had gotten out to a 11-8 lead, Marquette called a timeout and responded by taking the next three points on two kills by Fisher and one by Vancura to tie the set at 11-11. With the score tied at 14-14, MU scored the next two points, the last on a kill by Leslie Bielski to close out the match, 16-14.

In the match against American, Fisher led the team with 17 kills, Mastandrea set a career high with 52 assists, freshman Amy Deelo added 20 digs and Vancurara pitched in a solid performance with 14 kills.

Earlier in the day against Oregon State, the Golden Eagles fell behind early to the Beavers as OSU got out to an 10-4 lead, forcing MU to call a timeout. OSU then went on to build a 20-11 lead before MU rallied to pull within three at 21-18 on a kill by Mastandrea. The Beavers then closed out the set, taking in 25-19.

The second saw much of the same for Marquette as OSU got out to a 14-6 lead on two straight service aces by Oregon State's Bree Knitter. After a kill by Bielski put the set at 18-10, Oregon State reeled off the next seven points to win the set 25-10.

Through the first and second stanzas, Marquette's attack percentage stood at .000 with 19 kills and 19 errors.

MU came out of the break looking like a different squad as they led for most of the third set. Two kills by Bielski provided Marquette's last two points of the set as they won, 25-23. In the third, Bielski recorded five kills while Mastandrea had 14 assists.

In the fourth set, Marquette and Oregon State fought back and fourth eventually leading to a tie score at 16-16. From that point, Oregon State pulled away to take the set and the match 25-19.

Leading the way against Oregon State were Bielski with 14 kills, Mastandrea with 38 assists and Deelo with 13 digs. Russell recorded seven kills in each of her matches on the day.

Marquette returns to action tomorrow at 4 p.m. against instate rival Wisconsin in the final day of the Marquette Cheese Bowl. The match will be televised locally on tape-delay on Time Warner Sports, Channel 32.