This Weekend In #BIGEASTvb – 10.23.17
NEW YORK – Over the weekend the top spot in the BIG EAST volleyball standings was overtaken by Creighton. The Bluejays had an undefeated weekend against St. John’s and Seton Hall, losing just one set to the Red Storm on Friday. Marquette lost just their second match this season in league play as Butler won an exciting 3-2 match on Saturday.
With Creighton’s wins over the weekend, the nationally ranked No. 16 Bluejays have advanced their winning streak to five matches. Joining Creighton in the win-streak column are Villanova and Butler, both teams have strung together a three-match streak.
If the season ended today, Creighton (9-1), Marquette (9-2) and Villanova (7-3) would all be locks in the league’s postseason tournament. Tied for the fourth spot is Butler and Seton Hall at 7-4. Butler won the first meeting between the teams, 3-0 (Oct. 7).
Noted: Creighton’s win over Seton Hall was the Bluejays’ 400th as a program since it was reinstated in 1994.
Sunday, Oct. 22
CREIGHTON 3, SETON HALL 0 (25-19,25-17,25-11)
Three Creighton players notched double-digit kills, led by Taryn Kloth with 12. Jaali Winters added 11 and Megan Ballenger had 10. Creighton finished with 51 kills, six aces, 46 digs and 7.0 blocks while limiting Seton Hall to 34 kills, no aces, 37 digs and 2.0 blocks. Creighton's .419 hitting percentage was the program's seventh-best mark in school history. Abby Thelen led the offense for Seton Hall with nine kills.
ST. JOHN'S 3, PROVIDENCE 1 (20-25,29-27,25-22,28-26)
Despite Providence recording more kills (64-55), blocks, digs (62-53) and a higher hitting percentage (.297-.231), the Red Storm performed outstanding on the service line with a season-high 12 service aces led by a career-high four from Amanda Sanabia. Sanabia also collected a match-high 20 digs to give the sophomore libero seven-straight matches of at least 11 or more digs. Julia Cast had 20 kills for SJU. For Providence, Addison Root led four players in double-digit kills with 19. Jenae Alderson had 14 and Megan Onyundo and Lindsey Schaible had 11 each.
Saturday, Oct. 21
XAVIER 3, DEPAUL 0 (25-18,25-23,25-22)
Xavier junior Laura Grossman posted a match-high 11 kills to go along with eight digs, two aces and two blocks for the winning Musketeers. The outside hitter has posted 10 or more kills in a match six times this season. Classmate Meredith Klare recorded a match-high 15 digs. The libero added three assists. Xavier posted a 5-4 advantage in aces. Both teams had seven total team blocks. For DePaul, Brittany Maxwell tied for a match-high 11 kills.
BUTLER 3, MARQUETTE 2 (20-25,25-18,28-30,25-17,15-11)
The Bulldogs posted a big road victory with a five-set win over Marquette on Saturday night. Butler has now won three-straight matches on the road. Four different Bulldogs notched a double-double. Senior setter Makayla Ferguson narrowly missed her second triple-double of the season with 54 assists, 17 digs and nine kills. She also added three blocks and a service ace to her stat line in the win. Bri Lilly had a team-best 17 kills with five blocks as Whitney Beck was close behind with 16. Lilly had just one error on 25 swings for a .640 attack percentage. Natalie Ravenell had 12 kills and Anna Logan had 11. Marquette’s Allie Barber had a match-high 27 kills on .318 hitting. Freshman Hope Werch added 10 kills.
VILLANOVA 3, GEORGETOWN 0 (25-17,25-19,25-20)
Villanova’s Allie Loitz finished with 10 kills on .529 hitting as the Wildcats swept Georgetown during their Spike It To Cancer event. Villanova had 46 kills to Georgetown’s 37. Amanda Pedersen-Henry had nine kills and a .643 hitting percentage. Senior libero Allison Fitzgerald had 20 digs. Georgetown was led by Alyssa Sinnette and Symone Speech in double digit kills. Sinnette had 11, Speech had 10.
Friday, Oct. 20
MARQUETTE 3, XAVIER 0 (25-19,25-19,25-23)
Marquette opened the weekend with a straight-set sweep at home led by sophomore Allie Barber with 18 kills and a .424 hitting percentage against Xavier. Lauren Speckman recorded her fifth double-double of the season as she dished out 44 assists with 10 digs and redshirt junior Jenna Rosenthal tallied four blocks to top off the stat sheet. Defensively freshmen Martha Konovodoff and Hope Werch led with 19 and 18 digs, respectively, while the Golden Eagles combined for 61 digs as a team, holding the Musketeers to 47. The Musketeers were led by Laura Grossman with 12 kills and a .423 clip, while Meredith Klare collected 19 digs. Alexis Newsome put up a match-high six blocks.
SETON HALL 3, PROVIDENCE 1 (25-17,16-25,28-26,25-13)
Sophomore Haylee Gasser had a career-high 13 kills and senior Dominique Mason had her third straight double-double as Seton Hall defeated Providence, 3-1. Gasser finished with a .320 attack percentage and a team-best four blocks with the 13 kills. Mason had 13 kills to go with 17 digs and two blocks. Sophia Coffey narrowly missed a double-double with 25 assists and nine digs. Providence was led by four players in double-digit kills. Megan Onyundo had 14, Addison Roote had 11 and Jenae Alderson and Cayla Veverka had 10 each.
CREIGHTON 3, ST. JOHN’S 1 (25-23,20-25,25-13,25-16)
Jaali Winters led four Bluejays with double-figure kills, finishing with 13 kills and 11 digs. Marysa Wilkinson added 12 kills and a team-high six blocks, and Brittany Witt finished with 20 digs. St. John's was paced by eight kills each from Jordan McCalla and Julia Cast, and setter Erica DiMaulo had a double-double with 27 assists and 13 digs. Creighton won a tense opening set, 25-23, as both teams struggled out of the gates after the rare mid-afternoon weekday start. Creighton appeared in control with a 19-15 lead before the Red Storm fought back to tie the score at 21-21. Winters put down kills on CU's final two points of the frame. St. John's evened the match with a 25-20 triumph in the second set, its first set victory in Omaha since 2013.
BUTLER 3, DEPAUL 0 (25-18,25-18,25-22)
Butler posted a .364 team attack percentage against the Blue Demons to control the action. Whitney Beck and Bri Lilly tied for the team lead with 11 kills each. Brooke Gregory added 10 and outside hitter Anna Logan was in the box score with nine. The Bulldogs only committed seven attack errors on 110 total attempts. Gregory hit .625, Lilly hit .526 and Beck hit .296. Senior setter Makayla Ferguson notched 38 assists in the sweep and the blocks category was led by Lilly with five. DePaul was led by Brittany Maxwell with 11 kills and 10 by Myah Reed.
Upcoming #BIGEASTvb
Friday, Oct. 27
MARQUETTE at ST. JOHN’S at 5 p.m.
DEPAUL at SETON HALL at 6 p.m.
VILLANOVA at BUTLER at 6 p.m.
CREIGHTON at PROVIDENCE at 7 p.m.
GEORGETOWN at XAVIER at 7 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 28
DEPAUL at ST. JOHN’S at 4 p.m. (BEDN)
VILLANOVA at XAVIER at 6 p.m.
MARQUETTE at SETON HALL at 7 p.m.
CREIGHTON at PROVIDENCE at 8 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 29
GEORGETOWN at BUTLER at 2 p.m.
All times listed are Eastern.