PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Villanova women's volleyball team beat the Providence Friars 3-0 on Friday night. They will travel to No. 9 Creighton on Sunday afternoon.
With the win the Wildcats improve to 15-12 and 8-7 in the BIG EAST Conference. While the Friars fall to 8-18 and 2-13.
Head coach Josh Steinbach on the sweep, "I thought we played pretty well. Emma (Decker) moved the ball around and got good opportunities for our pin attackers. It's good to get a road win, and build some confidence before Creighton."
Junior setter Emma Decker dished out 34 assists. It was her third game in a row with 25 or more assists. Decker also had four service aces.
Freshman outside hitter Clare Delaplane led the Wildcats with 12 kills, hitting .286.
Sophomore outside hitter Mallory Potts had 10 kills and two digs, hitting .296. Freshman right side hitter Sanaä Barnes had 10 kills hitting .368.
Junior libero Regan Lough had 21 digs and two assists. It was her 13th game this season with 20 or more assists.
The Wildcats trailed 4-6 to begin the match but then went on a 5-0 run to lead 9-6. Villanova would continue to go on a series of 2-0 runs to increase their lead. With the score at 19-16, the Wildcats went on another 5-0 run to lead 24-16. The teams would trade the next two points and Villanova won the opening set 25-17.
The score went back and forth to start the second set. The Wildcats went on a 3-0 run after trailing 9-10 but the Friars responded with a 3-0 run of their own. Providence and Villanova would continue to battle back and forth. With the Wildcats trailing 16-17, Villanova went on an 8-0 run to give them set point with the score 24-17. The Friars would go on a 4-0 run to cut it to a three-point game but got Villanova the final point off a Providence serving error.
The third set was all Villanova. The Wildcats soared out to a 10-6 lead. Villanova went on a 3-0 run to increase their lead to 15-10. The Friars fought back to make it a two-point game with the score 19-17 Wildcats. But Villanova went on a 5-0 scoring run again to make it 24-17. Providence would get two more points, but Villanova would close out the match with a kill by Mallory Potts to win the set 25-19.
Villanova will return to action on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. as they take on No. 9 Creighton. The match will be live streamed on the BIG EAST Digital Network / Fox Sports Go and live stats will be available for the match.
