Milwaukee, Wisc. – Third-seeded Villanova volleyball opens up postseason play with a matchup against second-seeded Marquette in Milwaukee tomorrow at 3:30ET/2:30CT at the BIG EAST Championship. The Wildcats finished third in the BIG EAST during the regular season to secure their postseason spot for the third consecutive season.
Villanova and Marquette have never met in the postseason, despite the two teams having made the tournament in the same year six times. Villanova is in search of its first postseason win since taking down Xavier in the conference semi-final in 2015. The Wildcats have fallen in the semi-finals each of the last two years to Creighton.
Marquette swept the regular season meetings, but each set was close and decided by seven or less points, with three of the six lost sets decided by three or less. Villanova did take a set in the second match, going up 1-0 before ultimately falling 3-1. Marquette finished conference play 16-2 with its only losses coming at the hands of conference champion Creighton.
Marquette is led by BIG EAST Conference Player of the Year Allie Barber. The senior averaged 4.61 kills per set on .303 hitting. Lauren Speckman led the team is assists with 615 while Sarah Rose handled some of the load, also adding 491. Martha Konovodoff paced the Golden Eagle defense with 4.46 digs/set. Marquette landed Barber, Konovodoff and outside hitter Hope Werch on the All-BIG EAST Team, as well Hannah Vanden Berg on the all-freshman team.
They'll match up with Villanova's three All-BIG EAST selections
Emma Decker,
Allie Olsonoski and
Sophia Howling, along with
Kathleen Johnson on the all-freshman team.
The last time Villanova was in action, they won in dramatic fashion, taking down St. John's in five sets, to help end the regular season on a positive note with two straight victories.
On the other side of the bracket, top-seeded Creighton faces fourth-seeded St. John's. Creighton enters the tournament having won five consecutive BIG EAST Tournament Championships.
The BIG EAST Championship Game is scheduled for Saturday at 4:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. CT.
Friday's semi-finals can be found on the BIG EAST Digital Network, with the stream links available on the Villanova Volleyball Schedule page and will be tweeted prior to the match.
