Final Stats

VILLANOVA, Pa. - The Villanova volleyball team was forced to play five sets but pulled out the 25-19, 23-25, 23-25, 25-15, 15-9 win over Butler on Saturday night in the Jake Nevin Field House.

"We haven't been down two sets to one and come back," said Villanova head coach Josh Steinbach. "It feels good to know we can be tested and do that."

The Wildcats (16-4, 6-1 BIG EAST) were led by Lauren Carpenter (Lakewood, Colo./Lakewood) and Allie Loitz (Bonita, Calif./Bonita Vista) with a dozen kills each. Carpenter's 12 kills matched her season high from the first game in August.

Darcy Wolf (Allentown, Pa./Central Catholic) came up big for the Wildcats as she recorded seven kills off the bench, three of which came in the all important fifth set.

Allison Fitzgerald (St. Louis, Mo./Visitation Academy) led the defense with 20 digs while Carpenter and Loitz both recorded season-highs in the category, 14 digs and 19 digs, respectively.

Butler (5-14, 2-5 BIG EAST) was led by Mary Striedl who recorded a 16 kill, 10 dig double-double in the loss.

"Butler played really, really well tonight and you have to give them a lot of credit," continued Steinbach. "They did a lot of things that made us uncomfortable so we're glad to get the win."

The Wildcats opened the match with a 9-1 run and led for the entire first set. However, Butler did put together a 4-0 run to cut the lead to 9-5. Later in the set the Bulldogs had the lead cut to four, 22-18, but Villanova ended the set with a 3-1 spurt.

The second and third sets were very similar. In both sets Butler jumped out to an early lead only to have Villanova come back and tie the set at 22-22. In both cases the Bulldogs got clutch kills to win the set 25-23.

Villanova responded to being down a set by opening the fourth set on a 5-0 run and led the whole set. Butler did cut the lead to one, 10-9, but Villanova built a 21-13 lead late in the set and closed the set with kills from Gabby Pethokoukis (Western Springs, Ill./Benet Academy) and Wolf.

The fifth set was tied 5-5 before the 'Cats broke open the scoring with a 4-0 run with Loitz at the service line. The Bulldogs had the lead down to 11-9 but the Wildcats closed the match on a 4-0 run, ending on a stuff block from Pethokoukis and Loitz.

The Villanova volleyball team takes its show on the road for the next four matches starting at Providence on Oct. 14 at 7:00pm

Short Box Score (Match) 2015 Villanova Volleyball Butler vs Villanova (Oct 10, 2015 at Villanova, Pa.)

Villanova def. Butler 25-19,23-25,23-25,25-15,15-9

Butler (5-14, 2-5 BIG EAST) (Kills-aces-blocks) - STRIEDL,Mary 16-3-2; LOGAN, Anna 15-1-3; LILLY, Briana 6-0-5; FERGUSON, Makayla 6-1-3; JAREMA, Makaila 4-0-4; BECK, Whitney 4-0-0; ADMIRE, Jessica 3-0-1; KLINGENSMITH, Jessic 2-0-0; AITSEBAOMO, Aki 1-1-0; COLLIER, Marissa 0-1-0; Totals 57-7-10.0. (Assists) - FERGUSON, Makayla 31; COTANT, Meghan 10. (Dig leaders) - AITSEBAOMO, Aki 26; FERGUSON, Makayla 14; STRIEDL,Mary 10; LOGAN, Anna 9

Villanova (16-4, 6-1 BIG EAST) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Carpenter, Lauren 12-0-2; Loitz, Allie 12-4-5; PEDERSEN-HENRY, A. 8-0-4; Wolf, Darcy 7-0-0; Pethokoukis, Gabby 7-0-4; Crutchfield, Claire 5-0-0; HICKEY, Colleen 2-0-0; Pettit, Emma 1-0-0; Northrup, Makenzie 0-1-0; KNIGHT, Ashley 0-1-0; Fitzgerald, Allison 0-2-0; Totals 54-8-8.0. (Assists) - Pettit, Emma 43. (Dig leaders) - Fitzgerald, Allison 20; Loitz, Allie 19; Carpenter, Lauren 14; Pettit, Emma 10; Adams, Michelle 8

Site: Villanova, Pa. (Nevin Field House) Date: Oct 10, 2015 Attend: 93 Time: 2:07 Referees: Mark McDonnell, Jung Park