Sept. 25, 2008

Rutgers-Marquette Match Notes (Sept. 26)

MILWAUKEE -- The Marquette women's volleyball team returns to action this weekend as it opens BIG EAST Conference play at Rutgers on Fri., Sept. 26 at 6 p.m. CT.

"I am really excited for BIG EAST play, we have had four weeks of non-conference play and overall it has gone well," said head coach Pati Rolf. "The reality is we lost some big players and the current players have worked very hard over the past few weeks, improving significantly. Our schedule thus far has really challenged us, which will help tremendously during conference play."

The Golden Eagles look to return to form following a 1-2 weekend in the Marquette Cheese Bowl Tournament, losing to then-No. 13 Wisconsin, 3-0, and Pac-10 contender Oregon State, 3-1. Marquette defeated American, 3-2.

Leading the way for MU are senior Ashlee Fisher, who currently ranks second in the conference in kills per set at 4.12, and junior setter Caryn Mastandrea, who ranks tenth in the conference with 8.43 assists per set.

The Scarlet Knights (1-8) are looking for their first victory since Sept. 6 when they beat LaSalle in the George Mason Tournament. Since that time they have lost four straight, including a three-matche sweep at the Davidson College Tournament two weekends ago.

The Golden Eagles went 5-9 in BIG EAST play a year ago after finishing 10-4 in conference play in 2006.

Following this weekend, Marquette will return to Milwaukee for matches against St. John's and Connecticut on Fri., Oct. 3 and Sun., Oct. 5, respectively.