NEW YORK – The third weekend of BIG EAST volleyball action wrapped up on Sunday afternoon with the Conference’s 10 teams amassing a 18-11record over three days of play. DePaul (8-1) and Georgetown (6-4) came away from weekend action unscathed as the Blue Demons and Hoyas won their respective tournaments while five other teams across the league went 2-1.
DePaul continued its best start since 2013, winning its fifth match in a row en route to the DePaul Invitational crown. The Blue Demons took down Central Michigan 3-1 on Friday before registering a 3-1 victory over Holy Cross and a sweep of Valparaiso on Saturday. Senior Brittany Maxwell led the Blue Demons attack with 50 kills on the weekend to earn MVP honors.
The Hoyas won three matches in two days to clinch the 2019 Colonial Classic title in Williamsburg, Va. Georgetown did not drop a set in weekend action with sweeps over Iona, North Carolina Greensboro and host William & Mary. Iva Vujosevic was named Most Outstanding Player after averaging 3.33 kills per set and 3.44 digs. Head Coach Toby Rens recorded his 400th career win in the Hoyas’ victory over UNCG.
No. 7 Marquette (7-2) finished a marathon weekend with a 2-1 mark. The Golden Eagles played three five-set matches at the 2019 Redbird Classic. Marquette took down RV UCF 3-2 on Friday night, coming back from down 11-3 in the fifth set to clinch the match at 16-14. No. 7 Marquette gave No. 14 Illinois a strong match before falling 3-2 on Saturday evening. The Golden Eagles wrapped up weekend action with a 3-2 win over host Illinois State after a 21-19 battle in the fifth set.
No. 17 Creighton (5-3) took second in the 2019 Bluejay Classic behind a 2-1 weekend. The Bluejays swept Nebraska-Omaha on Friday night as head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth picked up her 350th win in Omaha. Creighton took down Drake 3-1 Saturday afternoon before falling to No. 12 Washington in the night session by a 3-1 mark.
Villanova (7-2) traveled to Los Angeles for the 2019 Trojan Invitational. The Wildcats picked up two wins on Friday with a 3-1 win over 2018 NCAA participant Yale and a 3-0 sweep of Howard. Villanova then fell 3-0 to host No. 20 USC on Saturday night.
St. John’s (6-5) headed south for the Home2Suites Tallahassee Invitational where the Red Storm went 2-1. Friday action saw the Johnnies pick up wins over Stony Brook and Florida A&M before falling to No. 25 Florida State on Saturday.
Providence (5-5) hosted the 15
th annual Friar Volleyball Classic. The Friars registered two wins and dropped one match on the weekend. Friday action saw PC sweep Fairleigh Dickinson, while Saturday the Friars outlasted Coppin State 3-1 before falling to Brown in five sets.
Butler (2-7) went 1-2 at the Panther Invitational hosted by Milwaukee. On Friday, the Bulldogs battled to a five-set loss to Western Michigan and fell to Milwaukee 3-1 before picking up a win over Southeast Missouri State in the tournament finale.
Seton Hall (3-8) made the trip to Akron for the Akron Invitational where the Pirates picked up a win over Saint Francis and dropped matches to Eastern Kentucky and Akron.
Xavier (3-5) participated in the Lipscomb Tournament where the Musketeers went 0-2 in matches against Lipscomb and No. 22 Louisville.