New York, N.Y. - With a 4-2 record for Villanova over the past week, Sophomore Julia DaCosta has been named BIG EAST Player of the Week, and Sophomore Paige Rauch has been named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll.

DaCosta finished the week going 10-17 including three runs, nine RBI, three home runs, and two doubles. In the 10-7 win over Holy Cross she went 4-4 with two home runs including a game winning three-run walk off home run. DaCosta also had at least one hit in all six games this week and now is riding a seven-game hit streak.

Rauch had another great week on the mound for the Wildcats leading to her third time being named on the Weekly Honor Roll. She finished the week with a 2-1 record over 21.2 innings pitched. She allowed just four earned runs and racked up 18 strikeouts. She had a complete game shutout over Saint Francis, and picked up a win against UMass pitching eight innings and not allowing a single earned run in route to a 4-1 win. Rauch also made an impact on the plate improving her hitting streak to nine games and went 7-15 while scoring four runs.

Head Coach Bridget Orchard on the award winners and weekend, "I'm proud of the team and the way they played all week. Energy was high and everyone got after it. It's great to see Julia and Paige get recognized by the conference. The defense worked hard behind Paige and runners got on for Julia to drive them in for us to win games. They were clutch and got it done when needed the most. It's exciting to see how we are coming together as a team."

Softball will be back in action on Friday when they head to Maryland to play four games over the weekend.