No. 17 Golden Eagles Host Seton Hall and St. John's to Wrap Regular Season

MILWAUKEE – The 17^th-ranked Marquette University women's volleyball team is set to conclude its regular season slate when the squad hosts Seton Hall on Friday, Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. CT before concluding with St. John's on Saturday, Nov. 17 at 6 p.m. CT. Saturday's match will serve as senior day with a pre-match ceremony honoring the Golden Eagles' three seniors, Anna Haak, Abby Julian and Jenna Rosenthal.

Friday's match will air live on the BIG EAST Digital Network with Bob Brainerd calling the action from the Al McGuire Center while Saturday will stream for free at gGoMarquette.com.

Marquette (24-5, 14-2) is riding a five-game winning streak and picked up another pair of sweeps on the road last weekend at Butler and Xavier. 13 of MU's 14 conference wins have all been sweeps for a total of 16 total. The Golden Eagles also locked up the No. 2 seed in the 2018 BIG EAST Volleyball Championship presented by Jeep and will face No. 3 seed St. John's

Allie Barber was named BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week for the fourth time this season, while Martha Konovodoff picked up her fourth BIG EAST Honor Roll nod. Barber averaged a league-best 6.00 kills per set last weekend, while her 20 kills at Butler are the most for any BIG EAST player in a three-set match this year. Konovodoff continued her excellent defensive work with 5.17 digs per set, which was second in the conference over the weekend. She averages 4.99 for the season, which ranks third overall in the league.

The Golden Eagles will have a repeat match against St. John's on Friday, Nov. 23 in the BIG EAST Championship semifinals as the two squads have already locked up the No. 2 and No. 3 seed, respectively. First serve will be at 2 p.m. CT on the BIG EAST Digital Network.

WHERE TO WATCH/FOLLOW THE ACTION:
LIVE STATS:
Seton Hall: https://gomarquette.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary
St. John's: https://gomarquette.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary

WATCH:
Seton Hall: BIG EAST Digital Network via https://www.foxsportsgo.com/
St. John's: https://gomarquette.com/watch/?Live=23&type=Live

PROMOS
Friday: Seton Hall

Kids Club VIP (Kids Club Members get to make hand turkeys with The Eagle in the northeast corner of the concourse prior to the match)
The first 100 students receive knitted hats
The first 150 students receive Chick-Fil-A

Saturday: St. John's

A ticket to the men's basketball game against Presbyterian gets you in the volleyball match for free
Students who attend both men's basketball and volleyball are entered to win a free pair of Jordan shoes

OPPONENTS:

Seton Hall (9-20, 4-12): The Pirates were swept by league travel partner St. John's last weekend despite a double-double from senior Sophia Coffey who dished 23 assists with 10 digs. For the season, Abby Thelan leads Seton Hall with 3.67 kills per set, while Eden Dolezal is collecting 4.10 digs per frame.

Friday will be the 22nd meeting between the two programs with the Golden Eagles owning a 16-5 record overall including a 3-0 sweep in South Orange in October.

St. John's (22-9, 11-5): The Red Storm have clinched a berth to their first BIG EAST Tournament since 2012 and their 22 wins marks their best win total since 2008. Efrosini Alexakou was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week after notching her 12^th double-double of the season at Seton Hall. She leads St. John's and ranks fifth in the league with 3.60 kills per set. The Red Storm will play at DePaul before heading to Milwaukee.

The Golden Eagles own a 14-5 record in the all-time series and have won three straight matches over St. John's.

STORYLINES:

Marquette is on a five-game win streak since falling to No. 9 Creighton on Oct. 26. The Golden Eagles have dropped just seven total sets in conference play this season and just one set in a victory.
Marquette established a new program-best ranking, moving up to No. 17 this week in the Week #12 AVCA Coaches Poll. The Golden Eagles entered the poll at No. 25 in week two after being the unofficial 26th team to open the 2018 campaign. MU is ranked for the first time since 2013.
RPI watch…The Golden Eagles own an RPI of 18 in the latest rankings after entering at No. 13. Fellow BIG EAST school Creighton has moved up No. 14 in the RPI.
Marquette continued to pour in BIG EAST weekly awards with Allie Barber named Offensive Player of the Week for the fourth time this season, while Martha Konovodoff earned her fourth BIG EAST Honor Roll award.
Senior Anna Haak reached the 1,000 career kills milestone on Oct. 26 against Creighton, combining her stats from Miami and Marquette. She became the third Golden Eagles to record 1,000 kills joining redshirt senior Jenna Rosenthal and Allie Barber.
Rosenthal became Marquette's all-time leader in assisted blocks in the match against Georgetown on Sept. 28. She owns 458 career assisted blocks and topped the record of 412 that Meghan Nieman set from 2013-2016. Rosenthal is also Marquette's all-time leader in total blocks with 513 currently having recently broken another of Niemann's records.
Allie Barber reached a milestone of 1,000 career kills against Villanova on Saturday, Sept. 29. The junior now owns 1,171 kills. The all-time leader for the Golden Eagles is Theresa Coughlin with 1,733 total kills from 2002-06.
Head coach Ryan Theis picked up his 100th Marquette victory in a 3-0 sweep over Illinois State on September 15. He is in his fifth season at the helm of the Golden Eagles.
Marquette defeated then-No. 10 USC in its home opener in a five-set thriller. It was just the third victory over a top-10 opponent in the program's history, but the fourth straight season that MU defeated a ranked opponent.
The Golden Eagles rank in the top-10 nationally in four categories: Fifth in aces per set (1.82), fifth in kills per set (14.82), sixth in assists per set (13.80) and ninth in hitting percentage at a .282 clip. In all four categories Marquette is the BIG EAST leader.
Rosenthal and Barber boast stellar hitting percentages at .375 and .363, respectively through the 29 games of the season, helping propel the Golden Eagles to its .282 average combined. The duo ranks first and second in the BIG EAST and are 34th and 47th, respectively in the NCAA.
Barber's strong junior season continues as she leads the BIG EAST in kills per set with 4.65, ranking 11^th among NCAA squads with 442 total kills. She is just one of two players in the country hitting above a .350 hitting percentage that also has 400-or more kills on the season. Torrey Van Winden from Cal Poly is hitting .364 and has 420 total kills.
Marquette has had a player record a double-double on 17 occasions this season. Anna Haak leads the squad with seven double-doubles, while Lauren Speckman has recorded five. Sophomores Sarah Rose and Hope Werch have tallied three and two double-doubles this season, respectively.