Volleyball heads to third NCAA Regional at No. 2 Penn State - Marquette University Athletics (2025)

NCAA Bracket (PDF) | Interactive Bracket| Match Notes (PDF)
Milwaukee Pressers: R. Theis | N. Ring | H. Bray

MILWAUKEE – The fifth-seeded Marquette University women's volleyball team faces top-seeded No. 2 Penn State in the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Regional Semifinals at 2:30 p.m. Central time on Friday at Rec Hall in University Park, Pennsylvania.

Marquette (25-8) advanced to the NCAA Round of 16 for the third time by sweeping Florida Gulf Coast and defeating fourth-seeded host No. 17 Utah in the second round. It is the first time that MU has advanced to the regional semifinals by defeating a tournament host on its home court.

The Golden Eagles finished second in the BIG EAST Conference and is led by All-BIG EAST and AVCA All-North Region selections Aubrey Hamilton, Hattie Bray and Yadhira Anchante. The Golden Eagles have participated in every full-field NCAA tournament since 2011, have advanced to the NCAA Second Round on eight occasions and competed in regional semifinals in 2018, 2022 and 2024.

Second-seeded No. 6 Creighton will take on No. 13 Texas, the regional three seed, at noon CT in the other match at Rec Hall, where Sunday's regional final match is slated for 7:30 p.m. CT. The regional semifinal match air live on ESPN2, while the regional final on Sunday is slated for an ESPN broadcast. Live statistics are available through the NCAA's interactive bracket.

All-session tickets in State College are on sale now, while single-match tickets are available to the public at 8 p.m. CT on Wednesday.

NCAA Regional – University Park, Pa.

Friday, Dec. 13
Matches on ESPN2 (all times Central)

Sunday, Dec. 15
Match on ESPN (time Central)
7:30 p.m. – NCAA Regional Final

[5] MARQUETTE (25-8, 16-2 BIG EAST)

• MU middle blocker Hattie Bray, outside hitter Aubrey Hamilton and setter Yadhira Anchante were all named to the AVCA All-North Region Team on Tuesday. The honor is the third for Hamilton and the second for both Anchante and Bray. Hamilton joins Jenna Rosenthal (2016-18) and Allie Barber (2017-19) as the only other MU players to earn three all-region nods.
• The trio also earned All-BIG EAST accolades, the third such postseason honor for each. MU had at least three players honored by the league for the seventh year in a row.
• Anchante averaged 11.25 assists and 5.13 digs per set in the NCAA First and Second Rounds against FGCU and Utah. In the matchup with the host Utes, she tied MU's single-match NCAA tournament records for both assists (51) and digs (25).
• Hamilton averaged 4.25 kills per set against the Eagles and Utes alongside 2.38 digs. Fellow outside hitter Natlie Ring hit. 353 and was second on the squad with 3.38 kills per frame.
• Hamilton and Anchante earned all-tournament recognition at the BIG EAST Championship for their play in matches against Villanova and then-No. 5 Creighton. Hamilton landed a tournament-best 6.17 kills per set and hit a combined .368 with 14 total digs and a pair of blocks. Anchante posted 70 assists on the weekend (11.67 per set) with 2.83 digs per set and four blocks.
• Hamilton joined Hope Werch (2018-20) as the only two players in Marquette history to earn three all-tournament nods in the BIG EAST Championship. ln five tournament matches during her three seasons at MU, Hamilton posted 93 total kills for an average of 4.89 per set.
• Anchante has helped MU hit a combined .264 this season (28th nationally) and averages 10.63 assists per frame (20th nationally) and a team- and career-best 3.32 digs.
• MU's 14.15 kills per set average ranks 12th among all NCAA Division I programs.
• Anchante became the fourth player in program history to reach 3,000 career assists in the Nov. 3 match against St. John's and is currently fourth all-time at MU with 3,405 in 93 matches.
• In BIG EAST play this year, MU middle hitter Bray led the conference with a hitting mark of .431 (161-27-311), over 20 points ahead of Creighton's Ava Martin in second place.
• Hamilton leads the Golden Eagles with 3.73 kills per set in all matches with 2.35 digs and 0.57 blocks.
• Hamilton became the 14th player to reach 1,000 kills in a Marquette uniform in the Oct. 18 win over DePaul with a career-high 28 kills.
• Ring is now second on the squad with 2.58 kills per set in all matches on a hitting line of 230-61-579 (.292). She entered this season with 13 kills to her name as a true freshman in 2022.
• Middle blocker Carsen Murray, MU's all-time leader in career hitting percentage, led the BIG EAST this season with a mark of .370 in all matches.
• Murray became just the fifth player in MU history to reach 400 career blocks on Sunday, Nov. 24 at DePaul. She currently has 413 in 133 career matches.

MARQUETTE MISC.

• MU head coach Ryan Theis recently recorded his 400th career NCAA Division I head coaching victory.
• He posted the 250th win of his Marquette career in the Nov. 3 match against St. John's and the Nov. 6 win at Butler was his 150th in BIG EAST action.
• MU's win total over the last four seasons (2021-24) is 101, tying it with 2011-14 and 2016-19 for the best four-year stretch in program history.
• Ella Foti and Carsen Murray, each of whom were with the program since the spring of 2021, have witnessed 111 victories on the MU sideline (10, 26, 29, 21, 25 wins).
• MU is ranked 17th in the NCAA's last RPI ranking of the season, which includes matches through Nov. 30.
• Marquette began conference play with the seventh-toughest strength of schedule in the country according to the NCAA Division I Massey Ratings.
• Eight of MU's 11 non-conference matches came against squads that competed in the 2023 NCAA tournament and seven of those squads were also in this year's field.

MARQUETTE NCAA HISTORY:

• The MU women's volleyball program joined NCAA Division I for the 1986 campaign and made its first appearance in the NCAA tournament in 2011.
• Since that time, the Golden Eagles have made 13 of the last 14 tournaments, with their lone absence coming in the spring of 2021 due to a reduced field of teams.
• In total, MU is 11-12 all-time in NCAA tournament play with eight trips to the second round and three trips to the regional semifinals in 2018, 2022 and 2024.
• The second-round victory at Utah is MU's first win against a seeded host team (Overall Nos. 1-through-16 (regional 1-4 seeds)).
• The 2022 campaign was the first that the NCAA started seeding teams regionally and MU has earned seeds of four (2022), five (2024) and six (2023) over the last three seasons.
• This year marked the first time that MU was sent outside the Midwest for NCAA First and Second Round matches.
• MU's other regional semifinal appearances came at Illinois (2018) and Texas (2022).

THEIS IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT:

• Fourteen of the 17 teams that Ryan Theis has led as head coach have earned NCAA tournament berths and eight have won at least one postseason match.
• Since taking the reins at Marquette for the 2014 campaign, he's led all 10 teams to play full seasons to NCAA competition and did so at Ohio in four of his six years.
• He's 9-9 in NCAA play at Marquette and has won eight NCAA matches since 2018.

[1] No. 2 PENN STATE (31-2, 19-1 B1G)

• The seven-time national champion Nittany Lions have played in all 44 NCAA tournaments and are the nation's No. 3 overall seed this year. It is their highest seed since earning the No. 1 overall seed in the 2017 bracket.
• This year marks the third NCAA appearance under head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley.
• PSU is 69-3 all-time in NCAA matches at Rec Hall and has advanced to 13 NCAA Semifinals and 10 national title matches. It is 18-0 at home in 2024.
• Penn State's lone losses this season were sweeps at then-No. 1 Pitt on Sept. 18 and then-No. 7 Wisconsin on Nov. 9. MU played the Panthers during the same week as the Nittany Lions in Pittsburgh, while the Golden Eagles took one set off the Badgers on Sept. 17 at the Kohl Center in Madison.
• Penn State has won 22-straight matches at Rec Hall (the last home loss came to Nebraska on Nov. 3, 2023).
• PSU has won its last eight matches since the loss to the Badgers, including sweeps of Delaware State and North Carolina in the NCAA First and Second Rounds.
• Penn State is 10th in the NCAA this fall with a .288 team hitting percentage. PSU ranks third national in kills per set (14.59) and fourth in assists (13.58).
• Middle Blocker Taylor Trammell averages 2.05 kills per set on the fifth-best hitting mark (.442) in the nation. She also posts 1.05 blocks per frame.
• Setter Izzy Starck is 12th nationally with 11.01 assists per set and PSU has five players averaging over 1.92 kills per set, led by Jess Mruzik's 4.20.

SERIES HISTORY WITH PSU:

• The Golden Eagles and Nittany Lions have met just once previously, a PSU sweep on Sept. 13, 2013, at Alico Arena in Fort Meyers, Florida.
• Penn State won the NCAA crown that year and was led by tournament Most Outstanding Player Micha Hancock alongside fellow Final Four All-Tournament selections Ariel Scott, Deja McClendon and Katie Slay. McClendon and Megan Courtney each had nine kills in the match against MU, while Slay had eight and four blocks. PSU hit .414 to MU's .163.
• Then-freshman Autumn Bailey led MU with a match-best 13 kills in that contest while BIG EAST Player of the Year and AVCA Third Team All-American Elizabeth Koberstein had 30 assists, five digs and a block.
• MU is 0-7 all-time against Big Ten schools in the NCAA tournament.
• Marquette assistant coach Ryan Walthall was a men's volleyball player at Penn State (2004-07), where he led the Nittany Lions to four NCAA National Semifinals and a spot in the national title game in 2006 as the team's libero. Walthall also coached the PSU men's team before arriving at MU in 2022.

[2] No. 6 CREIGHTON (31-2, 18-0 BIG EAST)

• Creighton plays three-seed Texas on Friday at noon in the first matchup of the day at Rec Hall.
• The Bluejays only dropped three frames in conference play, two coming at the hands of Marquette. First was a 25-23 MU win in the third stanza of the first matchup on Oct. 1 in Omaha, and second came in in the match in Milwaukee on Nov. 10 when MU started with a 25-21 first set win.
• CU is on a 24-match winning streak.
• Creighton's only two losses have come in five sets at a pair of top-five teams: Sept. 10 at then-No. 5 Nebraska and Sept. 15 at then-No. 4 Louisville.
• The Jays lead the BIG EAST in every statistical category except digs per set, and rank in the top-five nationally in hitting percentage (second; .332), opponent hitting percentage (second; .124), kills per set (second; 14.59) and assists per set (fifth; 13.54).
• In league play, CU hit an astronomical .371 to lead the BIG EAST.
• Individually, CU has BIG EAST statistical leaders in assists (Kendra Wait, 11.11), service aces (Ava Martin, 53) and blocks (Kiara Reinhardt, 1.48). Wait ranks ninth nationally in assists per set and Reinhardt is ninth in NCAA Division I in blocks per frame.
• Reinhardt is from Cedarburg, Wisconsin and is one of three Wisconsinites on the CU roster, alongside Kentucky-transfer Elise Goetzinger from Blue Mounds, Wisconsin and freshman Sophia Wendlick from Milwaukee.
• The Bluejays won their 11th straight BIG EAST regular season crown and 10th BIG EAST tournament title in 11 years.
• Five Blue Jays earned a spot on AVCA West All-Region First Team including Maddy Bilinovic, Elise Goetzinger, Ava Martin, Norah Sis, and Kendra Wait.
• Kirsten Bernthal Booth earned AVCA West Region Coach of the Year and is in her 22nd season as head coach of the Bluejays.

SERIES HISTORY WITH CU:

• A NCAA Regional Final meeting would be the fourth contest between league rivals MU and CU in 2024.
• The Bluejays won both regular season meetings against the Golden Eagles in four sets and swept MU in the BIG EAST Conference title match on Nov. 30 in Omaha.
• Marquette is 6-30 all-time against Creighton, with all but five meetings coming after the Jays joined the BIG EAST for the 2013 campaign.
• Prior to this year the two squads split the two regular season matches in each of the previous two seasons and each team won both matches on its home court.
• MU and CU have shared the BIG EAST regular season title in each of the previous three years (2021-23).
• Outside of the St. John's surprise run to the BIG EAST tournament title in 2019, only MU and Creighton have won league titles since the conference reformed in 2013.
• Marquette (2) and DePaul (1) are the only BIG EAST teams to take a set off of Creighton in 2024.

[3] No. 13 TEXAS (20-6, 13-3 SEC)

• Texas plays two-seed Creighton on Friday at noon CT in the first match of the day.
• The Longhorns are on an eight-match win streak and finished second in their first season in the SEC with a 13-3 league record.
• Two of UT's six losses came to ranked opponents, including a five-set loss to then No. 18 Minnesota at the State Farm Women's College Volleyball Showcase at Fiserv Forum on Sept. 2 and a sweep at then No. 2 Stanford on Sept. 15.
• The Longhorns rank in the top four in the SEC in blocks per set (second; 2.61), hitting percentage (third; .286), kills per set (fourth; 13.69), and opponent hitting percentage (third; .190).
• Marianna Singletary leads the SEC with 1.44 blocks per set which ranks 13th nationally.
• The Longhorns had four named to the AVCA Southwest All-Region team including Madisen Skinner (First Team), Marianna Singletary (First Team), and Reagan Rutherford (Honorable Mention). Ayden Ames was named AVCA Southwest Region Freshman of the Year.
• Jerritt Elliot is in his 24th season as head coach of Texas.

SERIES HISTORY WITH UT:

• MU's lone meeting with Texas came in the 2022 NCAA Regional Semifinal in Austin, a 3-1 win by the eventual national champion Longhorns.
• The Golden Eagles rallied for a set three win behind six kills from Bray, who notched 10 in the match and hit .375. Bray was named NCAA All-Auston Regional for her play at UT.
• AVCA National Player of the Year and NCAA Championship Most Outstanding Player Logan Eggleston led the Longhorns in the MU match with 15 kills while Madi Skinner had 11 kills and Asjia O'Neal posted eight blocks.

MU ON MILESTONE WATCH

• Kills (1,000): Hamilton at 1,249 in MU career, Reitsma (863), Murray (796), Bray (767)
• Digs (1,000): Anchante (991), Reitsma (946)
• Assists (3,000): Anchante (3,405)
• Blocks (400): Murray (413), Bray (272)
• Aces (100): Reitsma (144), Foti (97), Anchante (82), Hamilton (80 at MU; 93 overall)

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