Marquette advanced to the Sweet 16 for the second time in program history, but won four sets (14-25, 13-25, 25-19, 17-25) Thursday afternoon.
Marquette head coach Ryan Theis said, “Congratulations to Texas, a great team, a great environment and a great place to play.” Excited to have people back.
“Our last three or four weeks were over 3,000[fans]in the standing room alone at home against Clayton. We have hosted 2 rounds of and then 4000 fans here.The last month has been very exciting for our group. .”
With Texas dominating the first set and a commanding 11-1 start, Theis had to burn both timeouts within the first 12 points of the match.
The Golden Eagles were 20-10 and close to 10, but the Longhorns won the set with a 5-4 run and closed it off with a kill from Maddy Skinner.
The second set was even more contested than the first, with Marquette trailing by three early, 11-8. But then Texas outscored the Golden Eagles 14–5 and dominated the rest of the stanza.
It was again Skinner who ended the frame with a block from sophomore middle blocker Hattie Bray.
Marquette had 7 kills and .000 in sets alone, while Texas had 13 kills and .417.
The Golden Eagles took an early lead in the third set, 9-4. Texas responded with two quick points before making a 6-1 extra run that saw Marquette take a 15-7 lead with four kills from Bray.
Both sides traded points before Marquette reached set point 24-16, giving it the biggest lead in the match. After the Longhorns scored three points in a row, Eda timed out and cut it to a 24-19 five-point game. Junior middle blocker Carsen Murray finished the set with a kill for Marquette.
Murray’s kill marked the first set win in a Sweet 16 matchup in the history of the Marquette program. Bray finished the frame with 5 kills and 1 block.
It’s the third time an opponent has pushed Texas into the fourth set since losing to Baylor earlier this season.
The Longhorns took a 7-3 lead in the final set. Marquette was able to pick up the momentum as he beat Texas 6-4, 11-9, two points and he was in the game.
This is as close as Marquette gets when Texas takes the set 25-17 and advances to the Elite 8.
Texas posted a season-high 15 blocks in the afternoon, with redshirt senior middle blocker Asjia O’Neal recording seven assists.
Senior outside hitter Logan Eggleston led the Longhorn offense with 15 kills, nine digs, four blocks, three assists, and three assists.
Sophomore Jenna Reitsma led the Golden Eagle offense with 12 kills and 11 digs in her 10th double-double of the season.
Sophomore outside hitter Aubrey Hamilton was limited to just six kills and had eight offensive errors, holding his batting average to -.059%.
Marquette finished the season with a 29-4 overall record and a 17-1 record in the Big East.
This article was written by Jackson Gross.he can be reached at [email protected] Or on Twitter @JacksonGrossMU.
