#BIGEASTvb Weekend Roundup – 10.23
NEW YORK – For the weekend Xavier and Creighton each went 2-0; while Butler, DePaul, Seton Hall and Marquette split 1-1. Providence and St. John’s went 0-2 and Villanova bested Georgetown 3-1 in their travel partner showdown.
Creighton leads the teams with a 10-0 record in league action, 16-6 overall. Creighton just marked their second win over Marquette over the weekend as the Golden Eagles remain in second place at 8-3. Xavier (7-4) and Villanova (6-4) round out the top four.
Saturday, Oct. 22
DePaul 3, Providence 2
The DePaul volleyball team closed out a four-game home stand Saturday night with a sweep of visiting Providence, 3-0 (25-21, 25-14, 25-22). The Blue Demons improve to 12-11 on the season and 6-5 in BIG EAST play, while Providence falls to 13-13 overall and 1-9 in the BIG EAST. Caitlyn Coffey and Jasmine King led the Blue Demons on offense with 14 and 12 kills, respectively. Coffey added three blocks and two service aces. Colleen Smith notched 36 assists on the night. The senior eclipsed a career mark of 4,000 assists in the third set and is just the third student-athlete in program history to reach the mark.
Villanova 3, Georgetown 1
Villanova Volleyball capped an overall successful day for Villanova Athletics, as the Wildcats (15-8, 6-4 BIG EAST) downed the Georgetown Hoyas (6-17, 2-8 BIG EAST) 25-18, 23-25, 25-22, 25-16 on Saturday night at McDonough Arena. Senior outside hitter Claire Crutchfield led all student-athletes with 18 kills, half of them coming in the third set. Amanda Pedersen-Henry added 11 kills, as the middle blocker recorded at least 10 kills her last three matches. Freshman setter Emma Decker provided contributions in a variety of ways for the Wildcats, distributing 40 assists, connecting on eight kills, while adding seven digs on defense and led the team with five blocks. Georgetown had three in double figure kills: Liv King (13), Alyssa Sinnette (13) and Symone Speech (12). Paige McKnight had a match high 45 assists.
Creighton 3, Marquette 1
Creighton stretched its lead in the BIG EAST standings to three games with a 3-1 victory at Marquette on Saturday night. The win, Creighton's 10th straight, came after the Bluejays lost the opening set and survived a set point opportunity from the Golden Eagles in the third frame. Scores of the match in favor of Creighton were 23-25, 25-23, 27-25, 25-19, as senior Lauren Smith's first ace of the fall ended the contest. Jaali Winters led Creighton with a season-high 22 kills and added 15 digs for her 24th double-double as a Bluejay. She was one of four attackers in double-figures, as Taryn Kloth (15), Lauren Smith (11) and Marysa Wilkinson (10) joined her. Lydia Dimke had 46 assists, nine digs and six kills on .364 hitting. Marquette was paced by 16 kills from Taylor Louis, who added 14 digs. The Golden Eagles finished with 46 kills, four aces, 61 digs and 15 blocks on .208 hitting.
Seton Hall 3, Butler 0
Sophomore Abby Thelen tallied a career-high 21 kills as the Seton Hall women's volleyball team swept Butler, 3-0 (25-23, 26-24, 27-25), on Saturday. Thelen had eight digs to go with her match-high 20 kills. Sophomore Sophia Coffey finished with a team-high 39 assists to go with 13 digs. Senior Tessa Fournier had a match-high 22 digs to go with four assists. With her 22 digs, Fournier becomes only the second Pirate (Alyssa Warren) in program history to amass more than 2,000 for a career. Anna Logan led Butler with 15 kills.
Friday, Oct. 21
Marquette 3, Providence 0
Marquette swept Providence 3-0 (25-13, 25-10, 25-10) at the Al McGuire Center on Friday night with a strong defensive effort, holding the Friars to just .000 hitting percentage. The Golden Eagles (18-4, 8-2) were led by redshirt sophomore Taylor Louis with 15 kills, followed by six kills by Megan Niemann along with a .600 clip. Senior Sara Blasier dished out 25 assists with 11 digs for her ninth double-double of the season, while classmate Lauren Houg collected 12 digs. Providence (13-12, 11-8) was led by Jenae Alderson with six kills, as Chicyia Clark dished out 12 assists and 10 digs for a double-double.
Creighton 3, DePaul 0
Three players had double-figure kills to lead Creighton to its ninth straight win, a 3-0 victory at DePaul on Friday night. Scores of the match were 25-23, 25-23, 25-19. Creighton hit .295 and finished with 47 kills, six aces, 37 digs and six blocks. Kloth owned a match-best 12 kills, with Jaali Winters and Marysa Wilkinson chipping in with 10 each. Myah Reed and Jasmine King each finished with 10 kills for the Blue Demons, who recorded 35 kills, four aces, 32 digs and four blocks on .227 hitting.
Butler 3, St. John’s 0
Butler blanked the St. Johns Red Storm 3-0 Friday night at Hinkle Fieldhouse to improve to 16-10 on the year. Two Bulldogs recorded double-doubles in the match. Junior Makayla Ferguson recorded 29 assists to go along with a team-high 13 digs for her 10th double-double of the year. Meanwhile, Whitney Beck continued her hot stretch of play, tallying 11 kills and 10 digs. Friday nights match marked Beck's fifth double-double of the year, four coming in her last five matches. Reigning BIG EAST Player of the Week Anna Logan led BU offensively with 14 kills, but it was the Bulldog's play at the net that put pressure on the Red Storm all night. Kai Jarema and Ferguson tied for the team-high with eight blocks apiece, while Bri Lilly chipped in five of her own. For St. John’s Gaia Traalli and Margherita Bianchin had nine kills each.
Xavier 3, Seton Hall 1
Four Musketeers recorded 10 or more kills on Friday afternoon as the Xavier volleyball team defeated Seton Hall in four sets (25-16, 25-17, 23-25, 25-18) at Cintas Center. Abbey Bessler posted a match-high 18 kills, her second consecutive match with 18 kills. The senior outside hitter added a .350 hitting percentage and six digs. Senior Sofia Peterson chipped in 11 kills with a .500 hitting percentage. Brooke Betts and Alexis Newsome both added 10 kills. Newsome also hit .692, while Betts hit .588. Seton Hall’s Abby Thelan had 20 kills, while Dominique Mason added 15 and Danielle Schroeder 10.