Marquette drops its first Big East game of the season, losing 3-1 to No. 6 Creighton – Marquette Wire

Things weren't looking good for the team in blue and gold.

Senior middle blocker Elise Goetzinger had just recorded her 10th kill of the game, giving No. 6 Creighton (12-2, 3-0) a 22-19 lead late in the third set. That's when Marquette women's volleyball (6-6, 2-1) decided to make things interesting at DJ Sokol Arena.

The Golden Eagles closed the set with a 6-1 run, powered by a kill from graduate middle blocker Carsen Murray, two kills – including the final kill of the frame – from junior outside hitter Natalie Ring and a service ace from the Graduate setters Yadhira Anchante.

After avoiding the sweep in the third set, Marquette was unable to repeat the same magic in the fourth frame.

The Bluejays pushed the Golden Eagles out of the gate in the fourth period and had a 20-8 lead. Creighton won the set 25-12 while hitting .500.

Senior setter Kendra Wait shined as always, scoring 47 assists against the Golden Eagles. She continued to make history on Tuesday evening.

The reigning Big East Player of the Year passed former setter Kailey Reyes to take third place on Creighton's all-time assists list.

In addition to its offensive woes in the fourth set, Marquette hit just .098 in the first period. After trailing significantly for much of the set, the Golden Eagles went on a 5-2 run to increase the Bluejays' lead to 20-17, forcing head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth to call a timeout.

After the timeout, two kills from Goetzinger forced head coach Ryan Theis to call a timeout of his own as his team trailed 22-17.

Three kills and a Marquette serve error later, Creighton had won the first set. The Bluejays won the battle at the net fairly easily, outscoring the Golden Eagles 5-2 and outscoring them 15-9.

The Golden Eagles trailed 16-10 in the second frame and would capitalize on a Bluejay serving error followed by three attack errors from Goetzinger as part of a 4-1 run. After three straight Creighton points, back-to-back kills by senior outside attacker Ella Foti and a service error by senior middle blocker Kiara Reinhardt brought Marquette right back to within three points.

But two kills from former All-Big East outside hitter Norah Sis helped Creighton seal the deal in the second set, winning it 25-18. Sis finished the match with 14 kills and hit .256.

Sis was just one of four Bluejays with more than nine kills on Tuesday (Goetzinger, Reinhardt, Martin and Sis).

The loss drops Marquette to 2-12 against ranked opponents over the past two seasons.

The Golden Eagles will look to get back on track Sunday against the Butler Bulldogs (2-12, 0-2) at the Al McGuire Center. Opening serve is scheduled to take place at 1:00 p.m. CST.

This story was written by Matthew Baltz. He can be reached at (email protected) or on Twitter/X @MatthewBaltzMU.