MILWAUKEE — Marquette volleyball is ranked 9th in the nation. And doing things they've never done before.
TODAY'S TMJ4 Main Sports Anchor Lance Allan asks, "You've done some firsts...you beat Wisconsin. You've done a lot of really cool things this year. Big East tournament is coming. You hope to host NCAA first and second round. What is this year like for you Ryan, kind of setting this standard?"
"It's been, you know, fun. I mean all along the way and such a good group to work with. You know, we believe in a pretty loose, relaxed culture and atmosphere," Marquette Head Coach Ryan Theis says. "And these guys can buy into that. They're, we're all pretty sarcastic. We like to make fun of each other and we do that on a daily basis so it's been a fun run. We're still trying to win a Big East championship though. And get further than any Marquette team has before. That's the goal every year, and we've still got some work to do."
And the name on the marquee, is Cedarburg's Allie Barber.
"You're right over your shoulder, literally....there you are! You're like the poster person of the whole program!" Lance Allan exclaims.
"Yeah, no, I wouldn't be able to do any of this without my teammates. They're so supportive, on and off the court," Allie Barber explains. "We have such an incredible team dynamic, and it just makes it so fun to be a part of, and we all work hard for each other. So I think, that's where a lot of our success stems from."
Barber has tied the school's all-time kills record.
"For me...it just kind of means that some of my HARD WORK is paying. And just seeing that, and knowing that I'm so close to a record, it's kind of like a culmination of all the hard work I've put in so far and I'm just excited to see what the rest of the season will bring for our team," Barber says.
"We enjoy laughing at one another as well as with one another...Allie's kind of gotten better at it over the years. She's got a pretty sarcastic sense of humor once you get to know her. And she'll poke and prod at me throughout the course of a practice or a match. It's kind of fun," Theis says.
"We've had a lot of first for our team...so just being able to be a part of it is so incredible. And not trying to look forward too much, but we're hosting the Big East tournament over Thanksgiving. So that's always exciting to have all the teams come to the Al and play. And we kind of get a little home court advantage. I don't wanna stop here...there's so much more that we can do as a team. So it's always exciting to look back and see all that we've accomplished but lots more to do," Barber says.
