NEW YORK – Within two nights of BIG EAST volleyball play, two slots in the 2018 BIG EAST Volleyball Championship have been claimed. No. 19 Marquette (22-5, 12-2 BIG EAST) made quick work of Georgetown on Saturday night by downing the Hoyas in straight sets (25-14, 26-24, 25-10). Georgetown drops to 14-12 overall and is in a three-way tie for fourth at 7-7 in league play with Villanova and Xavier with two weekends remaining in the regular season.
The Golden Eagles stay put at second in the standings, just behind No. 9 Creighton which clinched a spot Friday night. Marquette’s only two conference losses this season came at the hands of the Bluejays. Since the BIG EAST reconfigured in 2013, Creighton and Marquette are the only two teams to earn either regular or post-season BIG EAST titles.
Junior Allie Barber and sophomore Hope Werch each connected for a match-high 13 kills to lead the Golden Eagles, while hitting at a .522 and .423 clip, respectively. Sophomore libero Martha Konovodoff collected a match-best 18 digs.
Senior Alyssa Sinnette led the Hoyas with 12 kills, while senior Symone Speech added six kills. Defensively, senior Kenzie Higareda chipped in a team-high 15 digs for Georgetown.
The 2018 BIG EAST Volleyball Championship will take place from Nov. 23 – 24 in Omaha, Neb., hosted by Creighton. The semifinals are slated for Friday, Nov. 23 at 3:30 and 5:30 p.m. ET. The winners from those two matches will face off in the Championship match on Saturday, Nov. 24 at 5 p.m. with all three matches taking place at D.J. Sokol Arena at the Ryan Athletic Center.
BIG EAST volleyball will be back in action next weekend as teams fight for the final two spots in the Championship. The Golden Eagles will travel to Butler, while the Hoyas visit Creighton both on Friday.