CINCINNATI – The Villanova women's volleyball team fell to the Xavier Musketeers 3-2 on Friday night at the Cintas Center. The Wildcats fall to 10-8 and 3-3 in BIG EAST matches. While the Musketeers improve to 5-12 and 3-3 in the conference.
Head coach Josh Steinbach on the match, "It's tough to win on the road in our league and Xavier played well defensively tonight. We'll have to find ways to be better."
Senior middle blocker Amanda Pedersen-Henry led the Wildcats with 17 kills tying her season-high. Last time she had 17 kills was last week against St. John's.
Junior setter Emma Decker had a season-high 52 assists beating her previous high of 49 at Delaware.
Junior libero Regan Lough had 33 digs which was her fifth game this season with 30 or more digs.
Freshman outside hitter Clare Delaplane had 14 kills and 15 digs for her fourth double-double this season.
Junior middle blocker Allie Olsonoski had a season-high 14 kills passing her prior high of 12 against Clemson.
The first set started out back and forth. The Musketeers led 12-7 over the Wildcats. Xavier would continue to extend their lead to 18-12. Villanova would slowly cut into Xavier's lead. The Wildcats went on a 5-0 run to take the lead 23-22 and then would go on to win the set 25-23.
Second set started off much like the opening set. With Xavier leading 8-9, the Wildcats went on a 5-0 run to lead 13-9. Xavier would counter with a 5-0 run of their own to tie the set up at 15. The teams would continue to trade points as the score would continue to stay tied. Xavier had set point but after a Villanova challenge, video review overturned the call on the court and gave the Wildcats a 24-23 lead. Xavier would tie it up and then lead 25-24 but the Wildcats won the next three points to win the second set 27-25.
Once again the teams fought back and forth throughout the set. The largest run either team went on was 3-0. The Wildcats led 24-23 but couldn't get the final point as they lost the set 26-24.
Xavier jumped out to a 14-8 lead to start the fourth set. The Musketeers went on a 3-0 run to extend their lead to 19-12. Villanova would fight back to cut it to a two point and then a one-point set at 23-24. It wouldn't be enough as Xavier won the set 25-23.
The Wildcats led 3-1 but the Musketeers went on a 4-0 run to take the lead to start the fifth set. The teams would battle back and forth and the Wildcats would tie the set at 11. The Musketeers went on a 3-1 run to lead 14-12. The teams would split the next two points and Xavier would win the set 15-13.
The Wildcats will travel to Indianapolis tomorrow to play at Butler at 6:00 p.m. ET. The match will be livestreamed on Facebook Live and live stats will be available.
