DePaul opened BIG EAST play with a 3-0 setback at No. 19 Marquette on Wednesday evening at the Al McGuire Center. The Blue Demons never found their groove against the potent Golden Eagles attack, hitting .155 compared to Marquette's .402 mark.
Set scores of the match were: 15-25, 20-25, 15-25.
Junior outside hitter Hanna Karl totaled nine kills on 30 error-less swings in addition to collecting nine digs while Taylor Underwood and Bailey Nelson tallied seven kills apiece.
Ashley Cudiamat dished out 16 assists while Rachel Krasowski picked up a team-high 10 digs.
Marquette (10-1) was led 14 kills from Aubrey Hamilton and 10 kills from Hattie Bray.
Set One: The Golden Eagles used a 4-0 run to take an 11-6 advantage in the early stages of the first set. Karl's third kill of the set cut the deficit to four, 16-12 but the Blue Demons would not string together two or more points for the remainder of the set as Marquette ran away with the first set 25-15 The Blue Demons hit just .118 in the opening set while Marquette hit at a .464 clip.
Set Two: Marquette once again grew a big lead, jumping out to a 13-6 lead to force a DePaul timeout. Underwood tooled the block on the right side to bring DePaul back within four. After the Golden Eagles extended the lead back to six, DePaul answered on a Nelson kill and Jill Pressly block. Karl's eighth kill of the match narrowed the deficit to two at 22-20. Marquette used a 3-0 run to take the second set and a 2-0 lead on the match.
Set Three: A Karl service ace gave the Blue Demons their first lead of the match at 6-5, before the Golden Eagles answered right back to take a commanding 18-10 lead. DePaul fended off three match points, but it was too little too late as the Golden Eagles took the third set 25-15 and the match 3-0.
From Head Coach Marie Zidek: "That's one of the best Marquette teams I have seen. They came out confident and hot on offense. I thought we did a nice job dialing in their speed and transitioning well into the meat of set two. Unfortunately, we were not able to sustain. A really nice measuring stick for where the high end of our league is right now, and we will continue to work as a group to reach for it."
Up Next: DePaul will return home to host Butler on Friday, Sept. 23 at McGrath-Phillips Arena. First serve is set for 7 p.m. and will be streamed on FloSports.
Original source can be found here.
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