Marquette remains No. 21 in the latest AVCA poll heading into league play
NEW YORK – BIG EAST volleyball teams concluded their non-conference schedules over the weekend and will gear up for conference play starting Wednesday. The BIG EAST volleyball conference schedule starts Wednesday with St. John’s visiting Georgetown and Villanova hosting Seton Hall.
Creighton remains locked in at 10th in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) poll after defeating Lipscomb on Friday and avenging an early season loss to Northern Iowa on Saturday, both in straight sets at the Illini Classic. On Saturday evening the Bluejays fell to host No. 8 Illinois in four sets.
Marquette, the other ranked BIG EAST team, stays at No. 21 in the AVCA poll. The Golden Eagles dropped their first match of the weekend to in-state rival No. 6 Wisconsin in front of a sold-out home crowd on Friday night, but followed that with sweeps of both Tulsa and Illinois State on Saturday.
Georgetown, after staying idle last weekend, hosted the Dig the District Invitational in which the Hoyas went unbeaten to win the title. In its first match on Friday, Georgetown swept Morgan State. The Hoyas followed that with a win over Alabama A&M in four sets and another sweep, beating Loyola Maryland on Saturday.
St. John’s began last week with a loss against Hofstra on Tuesday, but went 3-0 over the weekend to capture the Dog Pound Challenge at Connecticut. The Red Storm knocked off Rutgers in four sets on Friday, followed by a sweep of Holy Cross. On Saturday, St. John’s swept UConn to win the title.
Butler hosted the Bulldog Brawl over the weekend at Hinkle Fieldhouse, only falling to Cleveland State in the first match on Friday in five sets. The Bulldogs went on to sweep both Santa Clara and Kent State on Saturday.
Seton Hall lost to visiting Princeton, 3-1, last Tuesday, before competing in the Hofstra Invitational over the weekend. SHU fell to Dartmouth on Friday, but defeated Columbia on Saturday in straight sets. In their final match, the Pirates lost in five sets to the Pride.
Xavier hosted Indiana and Eastern Kentucky in the Queen City Classic on Friday. The Musketeers fell to Indiana before defeating the Colonels in straight sets. Xavier dropped its final match at crosstown rival Cincinnati, 3-1.
DePaul competed in the Chicago Cup featuring all schools from the Windy City, which was hosted by Loyola Chicago. The Blue Demons were defeated by the Ramblers on Friday, and then fell against Northwestern and Illinois-Chicago on Saturday.
Providence was defeated last Tuesday at Bryant in five sets before their weekend tournament was cancelled at UNC-Wilmington due to weather conditions created by Hurricane Florence.
Villanova traveled to New Orleans, La., to compete in the Sugar Bowl Tournament. The Wildcats recorded four-set losses against Clemson and host Tulane on Friday, and were defeated by Little Rock, 3-1, on Saturday.