Nov. 27, 2009

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MILWAUKEE - The Marquette University women's volleyball team ended its 2009 season with three-straight match victories, defeating Central Michigan 3-0 at the Al McGuire Center Friday evening.

"Our goal all along was to get this program turned around and we feel like we are doing that now," head coach Bond Shymansky said. "The season is over, but we haven't finished striving toward our goal. Going from 18 losses to 18 wins is a great turnaround for us. I thought our team showed a lot of fortitude in the last two weeks, in effort, desire and passion."

The Golden Eagles conclude the 2009 campaign 18-12 overall in Shymansky's debut season in Milwaukee. MU reached 18 wins this season after losing 18 matches in 2008.

"We are excited looking toward the future with all these players returning and really starting to assert ourselves as a volleyball team. We add a few more pieces to the puzzle and we like our chances of competing for a BIG EAST title next year. It was a good win for us today and a strong exclamation point to a good season," Shymansky said.

Sophomore Ciara Jones led MU with 11 kills while not registering an error. Rabbecka Gonyo also reached double digits in kills with 10 and recorded four blocks.

Playing her final game at the Al McGuire Center was senior libero Hailey Viola.

"Hailey brought a good work ethic and she showed her teammates that its never too late to improve," Shymansky said. "She improved this year, even as a senior. I think that is an important lesson to be learned for everybody in our program, that there shouldn't be a plateau for an individual player. She helped us get back to winning ways and helped us get a taste of what winning is all about." 

The Golden Eagles never trailed in the opening set. Sophomore Ashley Beyer led the team effort with five kills in the frame, while Gonyo chipped in three on five attempts.

Central Michigan's Alexis Lonneman served four straight possessions to put the Chippewas within three late in the set, 19-16. A Central Michigan kill on the next possession kept the visitors in striking distance with only a two-point gap separating the score.  The Golden Eagles closed out the first set with a 25-19 victory.

Gonyo tallied a perfect hitting percentage in the second frame, capitalizing on all five of her swings at the net. Jones also contributed five kills for the Golden Eagles, who led by as many as nine points throughout the second set. Central Michigan suffered five service errors, three of which came in the final five points of the stanza. MU ran away with a 25-17 win going into intermission.

The Chippewas kept the score balanced for the majority of the third frame, tying the score 11 times and keeping the Golden Eagles from gaining a strong lead. Jones recorded five crucial kills in the set, and posted three of them in the final four points of the game.

A Jones' kill put MU within one point of a victory, and MU was able to escape with a 25-23 set victory after CMU posted one of their 22 attack errors on the night in the final play of the set.