Oct. 14, 2007

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MILWAUKEE - Head coach Pati Rolf achieved a personal milestone, posting her 400th career win in her 20th year of coaching as the Marquette volleyball team (8-8, 5-2) defeated DePaul, 3-1 (30-25, 30-23, 30-32, 30-20) at the Al McGuire Center.

With her tenth double-double this season, senior Kimberley Todd posted 15 kills and collected 14 digs. Junior Ashlee Fisher netted 13 kills, while senior Jenn Brown slammed 11 kill on a .391 clip. Senior Katie Weidner notched her second double-double on the season as she dished out a match-high 44 assists and tallied 11 digs. Sophomore Hailey Viola collected 12 digs and junior Terri Angst had 10 in the match.

"I think we are turning a corner now that we've reached .500," head coach Pati Rolf said. "Last week we stepped up and moved forward and we have players continuing to step into a leadership role, which has helped us. A good test for us will be UW-Milwaukee, because they have a strong program. It felt great to get my 400th win because it represents all of the teams and all of the players that have come before this one."

After opening game one trailing 3-0, MU pushed an 8-2 run to take an 8-5 lead and send DePaul to the bench for a timeout. Following the break MU continued to press the Blue Demons and a block from Weidner and Brown increased its lead to 13-8. After a 6-2 run from the Golden Eagles, DePaul called its final timeout as MU pushed the score to 19-10 following a DePaul error. A kill from Fisher gave the Golden Eagles a 22-12 lead and at 28-19 Todd slammed a kill to increase MU's advantage. The Golden Eagles served for game point after a kill from Tiffany Helmbrecht, but would have to try again after a DePaul kill. DePaul ran off four unanswered to hold MU off and force them to call timeout. Rabbecka Gonyo smashed a kill after the break, to give MU the 30-25 game one victory. Fisher and Todd led the Golden Eagles with four kills apiece.

Marquette jumped to an early 3-1 lead in the second frame, and a tipped kill from Weidner pressed the lead to 6-3. The Golden Eagles went on a 4-1 run to press the score to 13-4 in their favor and a solo block from Weidner took the score to 14-5. Fisher snapped a 5-1 run from the Blue Demons for a 17-13 score and after a kill from Angst the score was 22-18 in MU's favor. Fisher slammed a kill over to give MU the chance to serve for game point at 29-22, but would need a second attempt. A tipped kill from Weidner gave the Golden Eagles their second victory, 30-23. Brown netted five kills in the stanza.

The Golden Eagles again got off to a good start in the third game taking a 6-2 lead. Consecutive kills from Gonyo gave MU an 8-4 lead, but Depaul a 6-2 run from the Blue Demons tied the score at 10. Fisher snapped the scoring run from DePaul by smashing a kill for MU and the Golden Eagles tied at 13 following a kill from Todd. After MU took a 14-13 lead, the Blue Demons called timeout to regroup. Gonyo netted a kill to give MU the 17-16 advantage, but DePaul pushed back to force MU into a timeout with the score at 19-17. After a 24-22 lead from the Blue Demons MU used its final timeout to talk things over. Following the break, Depaul held onto a 28-26 advantage, but MU pushed back to tie at 28 and force the Blue Demons into a timeout. With the score tied at 29, DePaul slammed a kill for game point, but Brown followed to tie again at 30, but Depaul took a 31-30 lead and the Blue Demons earned the third game win, 32-30. Gonyo paced the Golden Eagles with five kills.

MU soared to a 5-1 lead in the opening of the fourth game and forced DePaul into a quick timeout. The Golden Eagles continued to to an 8-3 advantage, and increased to 9-3 following a block from Weidner and Gonyo. Following a 4-0 run from Depaul, Weidner tipped a kill to keep MU ahead, 10-7. Fisher smashed a kill for a 14-9 MU lead, and a block from Weidner and Helmbrecht pushed the score to 19-14 and sent the Blue Demons to the sideline. Fisher notched a kill for the 23-17 lead, and a kill from Todd set the score to 26-18. At 29-19, Brown served up match point for the Golden Eagles, but DePaul would again hold MU off. On a Blue Demon error, Marquette took the final game, 30-20 to win the match.

DePaul (5-15, 1-6) was led by Jacie Fielder who hit 14 kills and a notched a .423 hitting percentage. Kyndall Highland collected a match-high 19 digs.

The Golden Eagles will have a short rest before heading to cross-town rival UW-Milwaukee on Wednesday, Oct. 17. MU will take the court at 7 p.m.