Oct. 7, 2007

Box Score

MILWAUKEE - The Marquette volleyball team battled through a tough contest with USF and pulled out a 3-0 (30-28, 30-19, 32-30) sweep over the Bulls to improve to 6-8 overall and 3-2 in the BIG?EAST.

Kimberley Todd led all scorers with 19 kills and posted her eighth double-double of the year with 13 digs. Ashlee Fisher hit .480 on 15 kills and just three errors. Katie Weidner dished out a match-high 40 assists and Terri Angst collected 16 digs.

"I was very pleased with the effort again today," head coach Pati Rolf said. "Fisher came on in two consecutive days and their was better overall effort. It was the first time we were able to generate three wins against a strong team. The discipline the upperclassmen showed impressed me and their leadership was evident on the court."

MU earned its first point on a kill by Todd and Jenn Brown slammed a kill to tie the score at four. A second Todd kill put the Golden Eagles in front, 9-6. Tiffany Helmbrecht capped off a Marquette run with a kill to force USF into timeout. Todd served and ace to keep MU ahead, 15-11, and a kill by Ashlee Fisher gave the Golden Eagles a 19-15 advantage. As the Bulls crept back, Todd smashed a kill to stay in front, 23-21, and Weidner tipped the ball over the net to give MU the 28-26 advantage. After a USF error, the Golden Eagles earned the chance to serve for game point, but a serving error forced them to try again, and MU called timeout when the Bulls pushed the score to 29-28. After the break Todd netted a kill to give Marquette the 30-28 victory. Todd hit seven kills and Fisher grabbed six a .455 hitting percentage.

Marquette opened the second stanza trailing as Brown hit a kill to take the score to 3-2, USF, but a kill from Todd tied the score at six apiece. The Bulls used a 5-2 run to push the score to 11-8, but the Golden Eagles stayed alive as Brown hit a kill to push the score to 13-11. MU charged into an 8-2 run to force USF to call timeout and took a 19-15 lead. Following the break Todd served up three consecutive aces and Tiffany Helmbrecht put up a block as MU too a 24-16 lead. Brown and Fisher stopped a ball and Fisher followed with a kill to push MU to a 28-17 lead, and served for game point at 29-18. The Golden Eagles notched a 30-19 second game victory as Todd smashed a kill. Fisher hit four kills in the second, and pushed her hitting percentage to .600 in the two games.

The teams traded serves back and forth to open the third frame, and a kill from Brown MU in front, 5-3. A Brown and Todd block put MU within one, at 8-7, but the Bulls used a 7-3 run to take a 14-10 lead and force the Golden Eagles into a timeout. Coming out of the break, Marquette ran off a 7-3 run of its own to tie the score at 17 each, as the Bulls used a timeout to regroup. Brown netted a kill to give the Golden Eagles an 18-17 advantage, but the Bulls stayed close as the teams traded leads back and forth. Marquette called its final timeout after USF pushed to a 24-20 lead. The Golden Eagles stayed tough as Fisher and Brown stopped a ball to come with two points and back-to-back Fisher kills put the score at 26-25, USF. The Bulls used their final timeout as MU scored two unanswered to tie the game at 27. USF served for game point at 29-27, but Todd slammed back-to-back kill for a tie at 29. An error from USF put MU serving for match point, but a serving error forced another try at 30-30. Todd netted her 19th kill of the game for a 31-30 Marquette lead and a block from Gonyo and Helmbrecht gave the Golden Eagles the hard-fought 32-30 victory and a three-game sweep.

Leading USF (10-5, 2-3) was Marcela Gurgel with 13 kills and 12 digs, while Mariana Thon dished 30 assists.

The Golden Eagles are back on the court Friday, Oct. 12 when the welcome Notre Dame at 7 p.m.