Marquette, blends in new players, contends for Big East title, top-16 NCAA seed

You could say that Marquette is hitting on all cylinders. And the 17th-ranked Golden Eagles have been doing so since the 2022 season began, when they opened with a five-set victory at then-No. 11 Kentucky

When Aubrey Hamilton’s final kill hit the floor on the Kentucky side of the net this past August 28, she and her Marquette teammates burst into celebration. But it wasn’t just that it was a season-opener that made the win exciting. It wasn’t even knocking off a highly regarded team.

It was the first test for a roster that was overhauled in the offseason. Graduation took three all-Big East players, including two unanimous selections, outside hitter Hope Werch and setter Taylor Wolf.

So when the players and ninth-year coach Ryan Theis got together for practices in January, there was a lot to sift through.

Hamilton had transferred from Notre Dame. Peruvian setter Yadhira “Ya-Ya” Anchante was fresh out of Iowa Western Community College. Setter/outside hitter Ella Foti, from Madison, Wisconsin, and middle blocker Hattie Bray, from Hancock, Wisconsin, redshirted in 2021 as freshmen.

Theis had an inkling of what the group might be able to accomplish. He just needed hard evidence.

Marquette, hitting .288 as a team, good for 10th in the NCAA, is now 20-2 overall, 11-1 in the Big East, and riding a five-match winning streak. The Golden Eagles play host to Georgetown on Friday and Villanova on Saturday.

Marquette’s only losses to were to conference rival Creighton, up to No. 13 in the AVCA Poll this week, and reigning national champion Wisconsin of the Big Ten. Marquette is No. 12 in the all-important NCAA RPI, which means the Golden Eagles are in the hunt for one of the coveted top-16 NCAA Tournament seeds.

Last season, Marquette, making its 10th NCAA Tournament appearance in 11 years, lost in the first round to Dayton.

“One of the biggest things coming in with a whole new group is we had to kind of find our culture, our style of play,” said sophomore Jenna Reitsma, one of the most battle-tested players on the current roster despite her relative youth. “From the start, it was a lot of team building, finding that chemistry with each other and finding out how each other plays, what our playing styles were.”

Added Reitsma, a 5-foot-11 outside from Lowell, Michigan, “As we have been progressing, we’ve just been getting more comfortable with each other and realizing we work really well together.”

Theis said he…