#BIGEASTvb Weekend Roundup – 9.26
NEW YORK – After the first full weekend of BIG EAST volleyball, Creighton and Seton Hall have drifted to the top of the standings. The Bluejays are 2-0, while the Pirates are 2-1. Tied t 1-1 are Marquette, Villanova, Butler, DePaul, Xavier and Georgetown.
A full recap of all nine games from Friday, Saturday and Sunday are below.
Marquette 3, Providence 0
Tallying two block assists, redshirt senior Meghan Niemann has tied Marquette volleyball's all-time block assists record with 364 in her career, as the Golden Eagles swept Providence (25-21, 25-14, 25-18) on Sunday afternoon. Redshirt sophomore Taylor Louis led Marquette (11-3, 1-1) with 14 kills and a .464 hitting percentage, while Niemann and redshirt sophomore Jenna Rosenthal each recorded eight kills, while Niemann hit a .421 clip. Providence drops falls to 0-2 in league play, but is 12-6 overall. Providence was led by Cayla Veverka with 12 kills while Jenae Alderson added 12 kills and two digs for the Friars. Junior Chicyia Clark recorded 36 set assists while senior Michelle Cruz tallied a team-best 13 digs in the setback.
Creighton 3, DePaul 1
Megan Ballenger served up six of Creighton's season-high 12 aces in a 3-1 win over DePaul that moved the Blueays into sole possession of first place in the BIG EAST Conference. Scores of the match were 25-15, 29-31, 25-21, 25-17. Creighton (8-6, 2-0 BIG EAST) and DePaul (7-7, 1-1 BIG EAST) entered the day as the lone unbeaten teams in BIG EAST play after a wild opening weekend featuring several upsets. Creighton middle blockers Marysa Wilkinson (14 kills, six blocks, .545%) and Lauren Smith (13 kills, four blocks .524%) helped the Bluejays maintain a dominance in the middle, while Jaali Winters added 11 kills. DePaul was led by 14 kills from Myah Reed, while Brittany Maxwell added 12 kills and five blocks. The Blue Demons finished with 47 kills, 10 aces, 41 digs and seven blocks on .191 hitting.
Butler 3, St. John’s 1
Butler recorded their first conference win of the season by defeating the St. John's Red Storm 3-1 on Saturday evening (22-25, 25-23, 25-21, 26-24). The victory moved Butler's overall record to 12-6. Anna Logan paced the offensive unit with a team-high 18 kills. The sophomore posted a double-double by adding 11 digs. Jessica Klingensmith and Brooke Gregory joined Logan with double digit kills posting 13 and 10 respectively. Makayla Ferguson also notched a double-double with 48 assists and 11 digs. St. John’s registered 14.5 blocks which marked the 12th time this season the Red Storm posted double-digit blocks. The Bulldogs kept the Johnnies attack at bay, holding them to a .191 hitting percentage, while they hit at a .229 clip. St. John’s (10-6, 1-2 BIG EAST) was led by Gaia Traballi on the offensive side of the ball, as the freshman from Italy produced a team-high 16 kills and also added 10 digs to give her four double-doubles on the season.
Georgetown 3, Villanova 0
Georgetown evened its BIG EAST Conference record with a 3-0 win over Villanova (25-19, 25-21, 25-21) on Saturday in Pennsylvania. It was the third win in the last five matches overall for the Hoyas, who improved to 4-11 and 1-1 in the BIG EAST, while Villanova falls to 10-6 overall and 1-1 in league play. Sophomore Symone Speech led the way for the Hoyas with 14 kills, five blocks and two digs, while sophomore Alyssa Sinnette added 10 kills and 10 digs and Liv King had 11 kills and one dig. The Hoyas hit .291 as a team, with Speech hitting .407 and senior Ashlie Williams hitting .429. For Villanova, Allie Loitz had 11 kills. Regan Lough had 22 digs.
Seton Hall 3, Xavier 1
Seton Hall sophomore Abby Thelen tallied a match-high 17 kills as the Pirates defeated Xavier in four sets, 3-1 (25-22, 20-25, 25-18, 25-22), on Saturday. Thelen had seven digs to go with her 17 kills. Sophomore Sophia Coffey finished with a team-high 28 assists and nine digs. Senior Tessa Fournier notched a match-high 24 digs to go with four assists. For Xavier Abbey Bessler marked a team0high 15 kills with 12 digs. Xavier falls to 7-8, 1-1 in league action. Seton Hall evens its record at 8-8 and is 2-1 in BIG EAST action.
Xavier 3, St. John’s 1
Sofia Peterson posted a match-high 12 kills on Friday night as Xavier defeated St. John’s with a four-set win (25-22, 25-16, 22-25, 25-23) on the road. Xavier improved to 7-7 (1-0 BIG EAST), while the Red Storm moved to 10-5 (1-1 BIG EAST). The Musketeers won their conference opener for the second straight year. Abbey Bessler posted her eighth double-double of the year with 10 kills and a match-high 19 digs. The senior outside hitter also added three of the Musketeers six aces on the night. St. John’s was a force in front of the net and showed why they rank in the top 15 in the nation in blocks per set, registering a season-high 17.5 blocks. The Johnnies also forced 32 errors and held Xavier to a .150 attacking percentage. However, the Red Storm struggled offensively against the Musketeers, as they hit at a season-low clip of .102. St. John’s Danisha Moss, who picked up a career-high six solo blocks and had 10 total blocks for the second time in the last three matches.
DePaul 3, Providence 2
For DePaul and Providence it was the first league match of the season. DePaul and Providence split the first four sets before DePaul produced a dominant performance in the fifth set to earn the win Friday night, 3-2 (25-20, 23-25, 25-23). Colleen Smith came up big for the Blue Demons with her fifth double-double of the season with 41 assists and 11 digs. The senior setter added five kills and two blocks to her evening. Brittany Maxwell had a match-high 17 kills. Caitlyn Coffey followed behind with 11 kills and a team-high seven blocks (one solo, six assisted). Allison Impellizeri led the Friars with 15 kills and seven blocks. Megan Onyundo also registered double-digit kills with 11.
Seton Hall 3, Butler 2
Seton Hall sophomore Cherise Hennigan recorded a career-high 23 kills as Seton Hall team edged Butler in five sets, 3-2 (25-18, 21-25, 25-22, 19-25, 15-13), on Friday for its first BIG EAST win of the season. It was the second match in league play for Seton Hall, the league-opener for Butler. Hennigan had a .364 attack percentage to go with her 23 kills. The team on the left side of the official scorer won ever set in this match. Anna Logan eclipsed 20 kills yet again in the match, finishing the five sets with 21 kills and adding 9 digs for BU. Furthermore, Butler, which was on the left had an 8-6 lead in the fifth set before the teams switched sides. Once Seton Hall was on that side, they forged the comeback and won the match.
Creighton 3, Marquette 0
Jaali Winters led Creighton with 12 kills, while Taryn Cloth and Lauren Smith each notched 10 in a three-set sweep (25-22, 25-22, 25-18) for the Bluejays over Marquette. Both teams are receiving votes in the national polls. Marquette redshirt sophomore Taylor Louis and freshman Allie Barber each recorded double digit kills with 13. Barber ended the match with just one error as she hit .571. It was the league-opener for both teams.