Nov. 23, 2006

MILWAUKEE - Winner in seven of its last nine matches, the Marquette volleyball team travels to Orlando, Fla., for the Gators Conference Challenge held at the Champions Sports Complex where it will face No. 7 Florida, Nov. 24 at 4:30 p.m. ET, and No. T-15 LSU, Nov. 25 at 2 p.m. ET. The meeting with the Gators (26-2) will mark the first time since a loss to then-No. 7 Louisville, Nov. 18, 2005, the Golden Eagles (16-13) will face a ranked team. When they meet the Tigers (24-5) the following day, it will be the first time ever MU will play ranked teams in back-to-back matches.

Marquette returns to action after playing in the BIG EAST Tournament last weekend at the No. 6 seed, having made it to the semifinal round where it lost to No. 2 Louisville, 3-2 (24-30, 33-31, 26-30, 30-25, 10-15). Junior Kimberley Todd (31) and senior Jamie Mueller combined for 51 of the team's 85 kills in the match, while junior Monica Renfrow tallied a career-best 74 assists. Senior Nicole Wallace (12) and freshman Leslie Bielski (11) also reached double-digits in kills, while senior Lauren Pierce registered a career-high 27 digs.

In the quarterfinal round, MU met No. 3 Pittsburgh, defeating the Panthers, 3-1 (30-26, 30-25, 29-31, 30-24), behind a superb effort by junior Jenn Brown who set a Marquette and BIG EAST record with 19 blocks (1 solo, 18 assisted). The Golden Eagles also set a team record with 46 assisted blocks.

Prior to the tournament, Mueller and Todd were named to the All-BIG EAST First Team and Renfrow was named to the All-BIG EAST Second Team. Mueller was the only student-athlete from either team to be voted on unanimously.

Todd leads the BIG EAST with 4.79 kills per game, just ahead of Mueller who ranks fourth with 4.16. The senior also is seventh in the conference with 4.50 digs per game. With 11.00 assists per game, Renfrow ranks seventh in the league.

Florida has won 18-straight matches entering the weekend with its only losses of the season coming to then-No. 10 UCLA, 0-3, Sept. 2, and to South Carolina, 1-3, Sept. 17. The Gators defeated Kentucky to win the SEC regular season title, Nov. 19, giving head coach Mary Wise the 599th victory of her career.

Amber McCray (3.77), Kisya Killingsworth (3.58) and Marcie Hampton (3.15) all average more than 3.00 kills per game for Florida. Angie McGinnis leads the team with 13.26 assists per game and Elyse Cusack is tops with 5.65 digs per game. Kelsey Bowers (1.56), Kristina Johnson (1.07) and McGinnis (1.03) lead the team in blocks.

LSU goes into the Challenge having won eight of its last 10 matches. The Tigers fell to Ole Miss, 2-3, in their final match of the SEC regular season, Nov. 19. Offensively, Marina Skender, who is averaging 3.88 kills per game, leads them this season. Kyna Washington is a close second with 3.42 K/G. Four members of the LSU squad average more than one block per game. Leading the way with 1.63 B/G is Lauren DeGirolamo.

Live statistics of each match are available by visiting www.gomarquette.com.