No. 19 Marquette Downs Georgetown in Straight Sets

WASHINGTON, D.C.- The No. 19 Marquette University volleyball team made quick work of Georgetown, winning in straight sets (25-14, 26-24, 25-10) on Saturday evening at McDonough Arena.

Junior Allie Barber and sophomore Hope Werch each connected for 13 kills to lead the Golden Eagles (22-5, 12-2), while hitting at a .522 and .423 clip, respectively. Freshman Ellie Koontz matched her stellar night at Villanova with a career-high tying eight kills for a .429 hitting percentage.

Junior Lauren Speckman and sophomore Sarah Rose dished out 19 and 14 assists, respectively, while sophomore libero Martha Konovodoff collected a match-best 18 digs.

"We talked a lot as a team about what four straight road games meant and I'm really happy to start 2-0 and in 6-of-7 sets, which is pretty efficient," head coach Ryan Theis said. "We continue to try and improve in several different aspects and some of them showed up this weekend. It's nice to officially earn a spot in Omaha and now winning there gives us something to shoot for."

Marquette hit .310 in the first set, while holding the Hoyas to a .037 mark leading to a 25-14 win and held on for a 26-24 victory after Georgetown tied the second set at 21 and continued to match the Golden Eagles' effort. Georgetown took a quick lead in the third set, but Marquette did not trail for long, using a .593 hitting percentage with 18 kills and just two errors to win with ease, 25-10.

Georgetown (14-12, 7-7) was led by Symone Speech with 12 kills and hit just .114 in the match.

With the win Marquette clinches a berth in the 2018 BIG EAST Tournament hosted by Creighton on Nov. 23-24. MU sits in sole possession of second place in the standings behind the unbeaten Bluejays.

The Golden Eagles will continue a four-game road swing next weekend as the squad travels to Butler and Xavier on Nov. 9 and Nov. 11, respectively.