Big outings from both Jenna Reitsma and Aubrey Hamilton carried the day for #6 seeded Marquette volleyball on Thursday afternoon in the first round of the 2023 NCAA tournament. Double digit kills from both women led the Golden Eagles to a 3-0 (25-19, 25-16, 25-14) victory over Eastern Illinois.
While Marquette outhit the Panthers .362 to .111, that’s maybe not where the Golden Eagles did the most damage in this match. MU had 11 blocks in the contest against just two rejections for EIU. Marquette recorded nine service aces against just two for the Panthers. That’s a +16 point differential there, and when the sport is, to a certain extent, first to 75 wins, getting points from somewhere other than your offense is incredibly valuable.