DePaul University
13-11,6-7Big East
No. 25 Marquette
16-8,12-1Big East
DePaul Falls in Four-Set Match to No. 25 Marquette
11/1/2023 10:30:00 PM | WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Jill Pressly records 1,000 career digs while Yagmur Yavuz hits career-high 12 kills
CHICAGO - DePaul volleyball fell to No. 25 Marquette, 3-1 (25-21, 20-25, 21-25, 19-25), Wednesday night.Â
DePaul (13-11, 6-7 BIG EAST) was led by Audrey Klemp with 14 kills and two blocks. Freshman Yagmur Yavuz had a career game, earning 12 kills throughout the match.
Senior Jill Pressly reached a career milestone on Wednesday, recording her 1,000th career kill. Pressly totaled 16 digs on the night and added 10 terminations.Â
Senior Phoenix Lee started the match at setter and tallied 41 assists, earning a new career high.Â
Libero Julia Nagy recorded a team-high 20 digs on the night, followed by Nora Mannion with 13 and Rachel Krasowki with 12.Â
Freshman Meghan Scholz led the squad in blocks, tallying three on the night. Scholz also poured in nine kills on a .421 hitting percentage while recording only one error.Â
"That match was everything we hoped it would have been minus the L in the win-loss column," said head coach Marie Zidek. "Going in we knew we had to take more risk with our arms, especially from the pin. We had some great swings out of system and a lot of defense that allowed our hitters to stay in attack mode most of the evening. Then right when they needed a point in that second, third, and fourth set, they would lean into their serve game or lean into their block. That was the difference. We played very intelligent volleyball and took a lot of their offense out of rhythm, but they're a team with a lot of postseason experience so you can see they are able to lean into a lot of different areas of their game when they need to win tight sets and control an opponent who is pushing. We are using matches like this to become more like this - where we don't have to play perfect volleyball but instead finds ways to take over in tight sets. That was a really important match for us to show grit and capability. We are only stronger coming out of it, and we look forward to Friday."
HOW IT HAPPENED:
SET ONE: Three early errors from Marquette allowed the Blue Demons to take an early 7-3 lead, but the visitors quickly fought back to even the score at 8-8. Much back-and-forth action ensued, but DePaul was able to begin pulling away with digs from Mannion and Nagy as well as an ace from Pressly. A block from Yavuz and Katelynn Oxley put the Blue Demons up, 22-20. Marquette looked to make a run but DePaul took the set victory thanks to three-straight kills from Yavuz, Pressly and Bailey Nelson. The first set saw 12 ties and four lead changes.
SET TWO: The Golden Eagles quickly grabbed a five point lead in the early stages of the set. Four assists from Lee and two Pressly kills helped the Blue Demons fight, but Marquette was able to double their lead. Klemp rattled off a triplet of kills and six more Lee assists led a 7-0 comeback run to bring DePaul within one point, 16-17. Klemp and Lee combined for three more points as the Blue Demons tried to catch up, but were unable to find another lead as Marquette secured the second set with a block.
SET THREE: DePaul's early lead in set three was quickly quashed by five unanswered from Marquette. Another 6-0 surge widened the Golden Eagles' lead before Lee assisted back-to-back kills from Scholz, putting the Blue Demons within five. As Marquette reached set point, Klemp and Scholz staged a late comeback attempt, each recording a kill and combining for a block. However, the late surge was not enough to stop Marquette who took the third set.
SET FOUR: The Golden Eagles jumped out to an early lead, but kills from Pressly and Aly Kindelberger brought the Blue Demons within one point, 6-7. Marquette continued to edge out DePaul despite a massive block from Scholz and a kill from Klemp to bring the score to 17-19. Unable to find another lead, two aces from the Golden Eagles closed out the match in Marquette's favor.
UP NEXT
DePaul will hit the road for a quick turnaround as they face No. 17 Creighton on Friday morning. First serve from the D.J. Sokol Arena in Creighton, Neb. is set for 11:30 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 3.Â
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