Villanova, Pa.- Freshman outside hitter Riley Homer and seniors Sophia Howling and Mallory Potts were bright spots for Villanova's offensively in a 3-2 loss to Seton Hall on Saturday evening.  Villanova won the first set 25-13, the Pirates took the second 25-19, Villanova won the third 25-17, Seton Hall won the fourth 25-23 and the fifth 15-8.  The Wildcats are now 4-3 overall and 3-2 in BIG EAST play while the Pirates move to 4-5 overall and 2-4 in conference play. 

Homer paced all player in the match with 16 kills on 38 attempts while Howling added 14 kills and Potts 13.  Freshman Kiera Booth also tallied eight kills on the night while junior Clare Delaplane contributed five kills and 16 digs.  Andrea Campos finished with 27 assists while Belle Morgan had 23.  

Set 1

• The Wildcats tailed a 6-0 run early to pull ahead 11-6, both teams went back and forth, Villanova used two 3-0 runs to help close out the set
• Delaplane served four straight for the Wildcats, during the run Potts had a kill and Delaplane had one of her three service aces of the match
• Belle Morgan had 10 assists in the first set
• The Wildcats hit .314 in the opening set while the Pirates hit .033

Set 2

• The Pirates used a 4-0 run at the beginning to the second set to pull away, Villanova would get as close as two when it was 17-15, but Seton Hall went on another 4-0 run to pull away
• Homer and Riley had five kills in the second set
• Andrea Campos had eight assists

Set 3:

• The set was tied 5-5, the Wildcats tallied seven of eight points to take a 11-6 advantage
• Campos served six straight Villanova, during that run Howling had two kills and a block, while Homer and Potts each added a kill of their own
• Villanova hit .469 in the set while the Pirates hit .265

Set 4:

• Villanova came out strong to start the set going up 12-5 after a kill by Booth.
• The Pirate's Tsvetelina Ilieva served 10 straight to give Seton Hall a 15-13 lead.  
• Villanova would close it to one, 17-18, when they tallied four out of five straight points, which including a block by Howling and Potts and a service ace by Campos
• Homer had three kills in the set along with four digs and two assisted blocks.

Set 5

• Seton Hall score the opening three points and the Wildcats brought it within one picking up three of four straight points, but the Pirates would maintain their led for the rest of the set.
• Booth had back-to-back kills midway through the set while Howling also finished with two in the final set.

Following the match, the Wildcats honored the teams three seniors, Sarah Allman, Sophia Howling, and Mallory Potts.  This trio helped the Wildcats pick up 61 wins over the last four seasons and appear in three straight BIG EAST Tournaments. 

Next the Wildcats will travel to Queens, New York for their second meeting of the season with the St. John's Red Storm.  Game time is scheduled for 5:00 P.M. on Tuesday March 23rd.