No. 10 Creighton hosts No. 21 Marquette in Top-25 match on Sunday
NEW YORK – The first full weekend of BIG EAST volleyball league play will feature two nationally-ranked conference teams playing one another in the regular season for the first time since 2005 when No. 21 Marquette visits No. 10 Creighton on Sunday. This will be a re-match of the 2017 BIG EAST tournament championship match where Creighton won 3-2. The Bluejays lead the all-time series 10-3.
Conference matches officially kicked off Wednesday with St. John’s visiting Georgetown and Villanova hosting Seton Hall. Both home teams came away victorious as the Hoyas (8-5, 1-0) battled visiting the Red Storm (11-5, 0-1) to a five-set win (25-21, 17-25, 25-17, 20-25, 16-14) and the Wildcats (8-5, 1-0) defeated the visiting Pirates (5-9, 0-1) in four sets (23-25, 25-21, 25-20, 25-23).
Georgetown junior outside hitter Iva Vujosevic and senior middle blocker Symone Speech each posted double-doubles to lead the Hoyas. Vujosevic recorded 16 kills and 13 digs, while Speech tallied 14 kills to go along with 10 blocks. St. John’s junior Erica Di Maulo picked up 36 assists in the match to put her over 3,000 assists in her career. Freshman Efrosini Alexakou added her second career double-double with 15 kills and 11 digs.
Villanova freshman outside hitter Clare Delaplane logged 22 kills and 12 digs for her second consecutive double-double, while junior libero Regan Lough added 27 digs. For Seton Hall, senior outside hitter Abby Thelen posted a season-high 20 kills, while seniors Sophia Coffey and Caitlin Koska, along with junior Maggie Cvelbar all recorded double-doubles.
BIG EAST play will continue as the rest of the league gets in on the action on Friday. Providence (6-5) will host Marquette (9-3) at 6 p.m. ET, while Butler (3-9) goes to Seton Hall at 7 p.m. At the same time, Xavier (2-9) will play at St. John’s with live coverage on the BIG EAST Digital Network. Creighton (8-4) will take on DePaul (2-9) in the nightcap at 8 p.m. in Omaha.
Georgetown will head north to Villanova at 2 p.m. on Saturday, and Butler visits St. John’s at 4 p.m. Seton Hall welcomes Xavier to conclude the day at 7 p.m.
On Sunday, DePaul and Marquette will switch as the Blue Demons go to Providence and the No. 21 Golden Eagles will travel to No. 10 Creighton for a battle between the BIG EAST’s two ranked squads. It was Oct. 29, 2005 the last time two ranked BIG EAST teams played each other in the regular season as No. 7 Notre Dame defeated No. 6 Louisville. The last time any two BIG EAST foes faced each other while ranked came Nov. 18, 2007, when No. 20 St. John’s swept No. 21 Louisville in the title match of the conference tournament.
For live stats and any live video, visit the BIG EAST volleyball schedule page.
#BIGEASTvb Weekend Schedule
Friday, Sept. 21
No. 21 MARQUETTE at PROVIDENCE at 6 p.m.
BUTLER at SETON HALL at 7 p.m.
XAVIER at ST. JOHN’S at 7 p.m.
DEPAUL at No. 10 CREIGHTON at 8 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 22
GEORGETOWN at VILLANOVA at 2 p.m.
BUTLER at ST. JOHN’S at 4 p.m.
XAVIER at SETON HALL at 7 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 23
DEPAUL at PROVIDENCE at 1 p.m.
No. 21 MARQUETTE at No. 10 CREIGHTON at 2 p.m.
All times are Eastern.
BIG EAST teams in CAPS.