VILLANOVA, Pa. -- The Villanova Wildcats (15-9 overall, 6-6 BIG EAST) head west for their third-to-last matchup of the 2023 regular season, visiting the Butler Bulldogs and Xavier Musketeers with heavy BIG EAST Tournament implications.

SO WE MEET AGAIN    

It's matchup number two this year for VU against Butler and Xavier, reliving the final weekend of September. The Wildcats took down the Musketeers in straight sets on Friday, Sept. 29 then fell to BU in the annual Jam The Jake contest that Saturday. Abby Harrell was VU's leading scorer in both of those meetings, while Andrea Campos had 26 assists in each. Funny enough, the 'Cats maintained the same exact all-time record against this set of travel partners, holding an 8-11 mark historically against both Xavier and Butler entering this year, but a split of these teams a month ago moved VU's record against Xavier to 9-11 and Butler to 8-12. Villanova has mostly dominated the recent series with the Bulldogs, picking up a win in six of the last eight matchups although BU's two victories have come in the past 13 months. It's been dead even recently against Xavier, though, with the last 10 bouts resulting in a 5-5 mark for both squads.

WINNING WITH WHITTINGHAM    

It's now been 14 matches since senior Taryn Whittingham has taken over as libero for the Wildcats, and it's resulted in an improved defense for Villanova. The California native has donned the different colored jersey in each contest since the matchup with Sacred Heart on Sept. 15, and the digs per set numbers have bumped up in BIG EAST play. VU is averaging 13.53 digs per frame against conference opponents with Whittingham's near-constant presence on the floor compared to a 12.90 mark in the 12 prior matches. The 'Cats have compiled an 8-6 record with Whittingham as the starting libero, with victories over two of the top conference opponents (Xavier and St. John's) in that stretch. The 5-foot-6 senior leads the team at 288 digs and functions as one of the squad's toughest servers (26 aces).

BIO ON BUTLER    

• The Butler Bulldogs enter the weekend with an overall record of 10-13, pulling in at eighth place in the BIG EAST standings with a 4-8 conference record.
• Butler lost back-to-back five setters last week, falling at both Seton Hall and St. John's. The four conference Ws for the Bulldogs came over Seton Hall, Providence, DePaul and Villanova. 
• Mariah Grunze leads the way with 292 total kills, while Abby Maesch averages 3.38 kills per frame but has played in just 61 sets. Setter Cora Taylor is the conference leader with 900 total assists, and also paces the team with 22 service aces. 
• Grace Boggess ranks fourth in the BIG EAST for both hitting percentage (.333) and blocks (78), while reigning Libero of the Year Jaymeson Kinley has 429 total digs for the top mark in the league. 
• Butler ranks fourth or below among BIG EAST squads in every category, with the best marks being kills, assists and digs and the worst being aces (10th).

MEETING THE MUSKETEERS    

• Xavier comes into the week with a surprising 7-5 mark in BIG EAST play, ranking fourth and three games back of St. John's and Creighton after a preseason prediction of third. 
• Carrigan O'Reilly has been one of the nation's top setters throughout her career, the only active DI player with over 4,000 assists, 1,000 digs and 500 kills. Delaney Hogan is the team's top attacker with 209 kills, with Hogan and Sarah Stevens ranking six and eight in the league for hitting percentage. 
• Stevie Wolf leads the squad in digs with 4.02 per set this year for fourth in the conference, and Emma Grace has a team-high 24 aces. 
• Xavier holds opposition to a .190 hitting percentage, but remain middle of the pack for assists, kills, and digs and near the bottom of the BIG EAST in blocks and aces.

Streaming for both contests will be available on FloSports and stat links on StatBroadcast, with Friday's matchup set to begin at 6 p.m. Eastern while Sunday takes place at 1 p.m. from the Cintas Center.