Oct. 10, 2008

MU-USF Box Score in PDF Format

MILWAUKEE -- The Marquette University women's volleyball team lost a three-set match to USF, 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-16).

"Things did not go our way," said head coach Pati Rolf. "They really came out and battled but our energy was not where it should have been.

USF's Marcela Gurgel, ranked seventh in the nation in kills per set, got the Bulls off to a 5-0 lead after two service aces. Marquette got on the board with two kills by sophomore Rabbecka Gonyo and rallied to eventually tie the score at 9-9. From there the Bulls pulled away to extend their lead to seven at 21-14 and won the set 25-21.

After a rough first set, Marquette responded by getting off to a fast start in the second fram,e taking a 4-0 lead with kills coming from Gonyo and Leslie Bielski. USF came back to tie the set at 5-5 and 6-,6 before the Bulls went on an 11-4 run to take a 17-10 lead. The Golden Eagles came back to score six of the next eight points and pull within three after a kill from Gonyo at 19-16. USF then closed out the second set, 25-20.

In the third, MU took a 2-0 lead after a kill by Ashlee Fisher and a service ace from Caryn Mastandrea. USF scored the next nine points to take a commanding 9-2 lead on four service aces from Gurgel, who ended the night with six aces. After a couple of kills by freshman Ciara Jones, who saw her first playing time since the first match of the season, the Bulls took their largest lead of the night at 16-7. Four straight points followed for the Golden Eagles with a couple of kills coming from Fisher and one from Bielski, to put the score at 16-11. USF then took the next four and won the set and the match, 25-16.

Fisher led the Golden Eagles (7-9, 2-2 BIG EAST) with 10 kills but also had 10 errors on the night. Mastandrea contributed 19 assists and eight digs while Gonyo had eight kills, two assists, three digs and four total blocks, including two solos.

"Becka played great and our middle offense ran really well with her," said Rolf.

MU held Gurgel below her average of 4.59 kills per set with only 11 for the match, but was unable to corral her serves as she registered six aces along with 12 digs.

Marquette returns to action Sunday at 2 p.m., at Georgetown (10-8, 3-2 BIG EAST). The Hoyas dropped a match, 3-1, against Syracuse on Friday evening.