Golden Eagles Set For Big Weekend
10/15/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 15, 2009
MILWAUKEE - After spending much of the early part of its schedule on the road, the Marquette University women's volleyball team returns home for the first of four-straight matches Friday against Georgetown at 6 p.m. The Golden Eagles (12-8, 2-4 BIG EAST) will then face USF Sunday at 2 p.m. Live stats as well as audio and video coverage for both matches will be available on GoMarquette.com, courtesy of Marquette Radio (WMUR) and Marquette University Television (MUTV).
With Friday's match against Georgetown held prior to the evening's Marquette Madness festivities, the Golden Eagles will look to surpass MU's previous Al McGuire Center attendance record of 1,076. That mark was set against Louisville on Sept. 24, 2006.
"We are so pumped up about [playing before Marquette Madness]," first-year head coach Bond Shymansky said. "This is my first experience with it, so I am just as eager about it as everyone else to see how the event goes off.
"It is such a unique thing for us to be a part of it. We are really thankful and grateful for it. We just feel like it is a neat opportunity for us to just share that experience and touch what that is. Hopefully get some publicity and exposure for our team. The definite Marquette Golden Eagle fans, the super fans, they will all be here on Friday and we would love to have their continued support as we keep building our program."
Marquette will look to gain ground in the BIG EAST after finishing last weekend with a victory over St. John's (3-0) on Sunday after falling to Connecticut (3-1) Friday evening.
Georgetown (11-11, 1-5 BIG EAST) has lost three-straight matches and its only conference win came over St. John's (3-0) on Oct. 2. The Hoyas are led by freshman Lindsey Wise, who recorded 20 kills last week and currently leads the conference with a .531 hitting percentage. Georgetown leads the all-time series with MU, 3-2, and last defeated Marquette 3-0 on Oct. 11, 2008.
USF (10-5, 3-2 BIG EAST) has lost two five-set decisions in BIG?EAST?play, against Connecticut (Oct. 2) and Pittsburgh (Oct. 11). The Bulls are led by senior outside hitter Marcela Gurgel, who ranks sixth in the BIG?EAST in kills per set with 3.76. Middle blocker Alli Arbogast leads the conference with 1.69 blocks per set and helps the Bulls top the BIG?EAST in blocks per set (2.96) and opponent hitting percentage (.158). USF defeated MU, 3-0, in the two schools' last meeting on Oct. 10, 2008 and leads the all-time series 9-7.
Marquette will be led this weekend by sophomore Ashley Beyer who has posted double-digit kills in seven of the last eight matches. Over that stretch, Beyer has also averaged almost eight digs per match, while recording career-highs in blocks and service aces. Beyer currently leads the team with 239 kills for an average of 3.10 per set. In BIG?EAST matches, Beyer ranks second in the conference with 93 kills (4.04/set).
