The #14 ranked Bluejays very emphatically explained that they’re better than the Golden Eagles right now.
The answer to whether or not Marquette volleyball was going to have a shot at beating #14 Creighton on Thursday night came in the first set. Not right away, mind you. Neither side distinguished themselves for the first 20 points or so, not even really when Emma Parks notched a kill to put Marquette up 14-12. A two point lead isn’t much of anything in volleyball, other than at 25-23, and especially not against the #14 team in the country.
Proof? Right there. 12-0 run by the Bluejays. 24-14, set point Creighton. MU fended off a pair, but it didn’t really matter.
It looked like Creighton was going to pull away from Marquette early in the second set, jumping out to a 13-6 lead on a Jaya Johnson kill. MU inched their way back in, and a kill from Natalie Ring got it to 17-15. It was still two points at 20-18 off a Creighton attack error, but that was about the best that they could do. Three kills and a service ace later and the Bluejays were back in set point, and they got the 25-19 victory for the 2-0 lead.
5-0 Creighton to start off the third seemed like a bad sign for what was about to become the final set, but somehow a kill from Ring made it 11-all. A kill from Emma Parks kept Marquette within one at 15-14, and one from Hattie Bray made it a two point game, 17-15. Then Creighton scored five straight, and a seven point margin with the Bluejays three points away from the win was too much of a gap to overcome. 25-18 Creighton, that’s a 3-0 sweep.
We talked about it earlier this season: Marquette is going to struggle to win when their big hitters can’t finish with efficiency. Here? .167 for Elena Radeff, .143 for Natalie Ring. That’s 60 of Marquette’s 105 swings on the night, and that’s just not going to be enough against #14. That’s without taking Eva Martin’s .514 hitting on the night — 20 kills and one error on a team high 37 swings — coming back at the Golden Eagles into account, and you see how it all works together to be a problem.
How about some highlights, such as they are, courtesy of GoMarquette.com and Fox Sports?
Up Next: Marquette has to be careful to not let one loss turn into two when they swing back into action on Sunday against DePaul. First serve is set for 3pm Central, and ESPN+ will have the broadcast. The Blue Demons are 9-4 this year with a 2-0 record in Big East play, but they have to host Creighton on Saturday before the Bluejays go home to Omaha.
Category: General Sports
