#BIGEASTvb Minute: Opening Weekend Has Arrived
NEW YORK - All 10 BIG EAST volleyball teams will start 2016 at various tournaments on the road this weekend with three teams facing nationally ranked opponents. Marquette and Providence travel to California with Butler nearby in Utah. No. 18 Creighton, DePaul, Seton Hall, Villanova and Xavier will be playing in middle America, while St. John's and Georgetown keep it close to home.
Action starts Friday at 11 a.m. with St. John's facing Rutgers in Rhode Island. Highlighting the weekend competition will be Marquette playing at No. 7 USC on Friday at 11 p.m. ET; Villanova at No. 22 Western Kentucky and Xavier at No. 14 Illinois on Saturday.
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Butler opens at the Utah Classic against Gonzaga, Idaho State and Utah. The Bulldogs were picked to finish in the middle of the league, sixth, led by preseason All-BIG EAST honoree sophomore Anna Logan. Butler is going into 2016 without a senior on their roster. Kayla Bivins returns to the team this year after missing the 2015 campaign.
Creighton, the league coaches' preseason favorite and defending champion opens at the Iowa State Challenge against Wichita State and Iowa State. The No. 18 Bluejays will not hit the court until Saturday, facing their former Missouri Valley Conference rival - the Shockers. The Bluejays return 11 letterwinners and four starters from 2016. Creighton finished with a final RPI of 14. Both Wichita State and Iowa State are receiving votes in the preseason AVCA poll.
The 2016 season begins for DePaul at the Northern Illinois Invitational where the Blue Demons will play Loyola Chicago, NIU and Iowa. Senior Colleen Smith begins her final season with the Blue Demons with the fourth-most assists all-time in program history. Smith had 1,104 assists in 2015.
Georgetown will keep it local playing around the beltway for the D.C. Challenge. The Hoyas will start off at American on Friday and play against Howard and George Mason on Saturday. The Hoyas will look to benefit this season from a more experienced roster and added depth with eight student-athletes returning who accounted for 85 percent of the team's kills, 97 percent of the team's digs and 89 percent of all service aces. Last year, the Hoyas went 1-2 in the D.C. challenge.
Marquette will open their season on the west coast at the USC Baden Invitational. The Golden Eagles, who are receiving votes in the AVCA poll, will open with No. 7 USC on their home court in a late night match for the east coast - 11 p.m. ET. The Golden Eagles return all but three players from 2015 and boast an eight-member senior class.
Providence will be joining Marquette in California, approximately 350 miles north at San Jose State where the Friars will play in San Jose State Tournament. Providence opens up against the host school at 9 p.m. on Friday, before facing a pair of east coast opponents in Manhattan and UMass-Lowell on Saturday. The squad's notable returners include defensive specialist Michelle Cruz and the team's top three attacking players in Kayla Fitzgerald, Allison Impellizeri, and Marina Rose.
St. John's will play both its opening weekend games on Friday, playing at the Bryant Hampton Inn-vitational at Chase Athletic Center. The Red Storm will have its first serve of the 2016 season on Friday at 11 a.m. against former BIG EAST rival Rutgers at 11 a.m. Later that afternoon, the Red Storm will play host school Bryant. St. John's has gone undefeated in the last two invitationals held at Bryant University, going a perfect 6-0 and only dropping three sets total. This will be the third time in the last four years St. John's has competed in this tournament.
Seton Hall will open the 2016 season this weekend with a trio of matches at the Golden Dome Invitational, hosted by the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. The Pirates will face host Notre Dame on Friday at 7:00 p.m. ET, and then both Western Michigan and Cleveland State on Saturday. Seton Hall got their first win in 19 straight losses to Notre Dame last year with a 3-0 victory at Walsh Gym last year.
Villanova starts off 2016 at the Bobcat Invitational, hosted by Ohio. The Wildcats will face off against Florida Gulf Coast Friday at 4:30 p.m., and No. 22 Western Kentucky and host-school Ohio on Saturday. Villanova will look to start the season in the win column after having a successful 25-9 season last year and returned to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1997.
Xavier will play at the Illini Classic against Missouri State, No. 14 Illinois and Arkansas in Champaign, Ill. Host school Illinois posted a 21-13 overall record in 2015 and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16. Three of Xavier's first four opponents participated in the NCAA Tournament last year.
For live stats and any live video, visit the BIG EAST volleyball schedule page.
#BIGEASTvb Weekend Schedule
Friday, Aug. 26
ST. JOHN'S vs. Rutgers (Smithfield, R.I.) - 11 a.m.
DEPAUL vs. Loyola Chicago (DeKalb, Ill.) - 1 p.m.
ST. JOHN'S at Bryant - 3 p.m.
VILLANOVA vs. Florida Gulf Coast (Athens, Ohio) - 4:30 p.m.
XAVIER vs. Missouri State (Champaign, Ill.) - 5:30 p.m.
BUTLER vs. Gonzaga (Salt Lake City, Utah) - 6:30 p.m.
GEORGETOWN at American - 7 p.m.
SETON HALL at Notre Dame - 7 p.m.
DEPAUL at Northern Illinois - 8 p.m.
PROVIDENCE at San Jose State - 9 p.m.
MARQUETTE at No. 7 USC - 11 p.m.
Saturday, Aug. 27
SETON HALL vs. Western Michigan (Notre Dame, Ind.) - 10 a.m.
XAVIER at No. 14 Illinois - 11 a.m.
GEORGETOWN vs. Howard - 11 a.m.
VILLANOVA vs. No. 22 Western Kentucky (Athens, Ohio) - 12:30 p.m.
BUTLER vs. Idaho State (Salt Lake City, Utah) - 2 p.m.
PROVIDENCE vs. Manhattan (San Jose, Calif.) - 2 p.m.
MARQUETTE vs. UC Irvine (Los Angeles, Calif.) - 3 p.m.
DEPAUL vs. Iowa (DeKalb, Ill.) - 4:30 p.m.
SETON HALL vs. Cleveland State (Notre Dame, Ind.) - 4:30 p.m.
No. 18 CREIGHTON vs. Wichita State (Ames, Iowa) - 5 p.m.
XAVIER vs. Arkansas (Champaign, Ill.) - 5:30 p.m.
GEORGETOWN at George Mason - 7 p.m.
PROVIDENCE vs. UMass-Lowell (San Jose, Calif.) - 7 p.m.
VILLANOVA at Ohio - 7 p.m.
MARQUETTE vs. Santa Clara (Los Angeles, Calif.) - 8 p.m.
BUTLER at Utah - 9 p.m.
Sunday, Aug. 28
No. 18 CREIGHTON at Iowa State - 3 p.m.