CHICAGO, Ill. – The Villanova Wildcats closed out their Midwest trip with a marathon match against DePaul, falling to the Blue Demons in a five-set contest (20-25, 25-22, 23-25, 25-22, 12-15) that took over two and a half hours.
Kiera Booth led Villanova (9-5, 0-2 BIG EAST) by tying a season high with 18 kills and adding a team-high four blocks. Riley Homer returned from injury to total a season-high 12 kills on .393 hitting, while Abby Harrell contributed 12 kills and a match-high four service aces of her own.
Taryn Whittingham set a career high and led all participants with 26 digs on the evening and Andrea Campos totaled 49 assists and three blocks in the contest.
It was a game of runs in the first set as DePaul took the first two points of the match, then a 7-0 run from the Wildcats was followed by the Blue Demons stringing some together. DPU outscored Villanova by 10 the rest of the way, getting a 25-20 victory in the opener.
The 'Cats brought the heat from the service line in the second frame, with Harrell totaling three service aces in the first five points, Whittingham adding two of her own including one to clinch the set and one each from Skylar Gerhardt and Abby Keevins. The aggressive serving, along with 14 kills in the frame, allowed VU to tie the match at one set apiece.
Stanza three was once again dominated early by Villanova, jumping out to a 6-1 lead and eventually going up 12-6. A 6-0 stretch for the Blue Demons made it a tied frame and the sides mainly traded points up until DPU strung enough together to move away with an edge of two sets to one.
DePaul flipped the script in the fourth with a 7-3 lead to start it out, but the Wildcats turned momentum around and eventually led 13-12 after another Keevins ace. After the teams swapped positions a few times, Villanova ended the period on a 10-4 run to force a fifth set.
The squads traded points to start out that decisive frame, with DPU taking the first multi-point lead at 6-4. After the 'Cats went on a 5-1 run to take a 10-9 advantage, DePaul took the edge right back with three straight, then maintained the momentum for a 15-12 victory to outlast the visitors.
This marks the first loss for the Wildcats this season in a five-set contest, as VU previously maintained a 3-0 record in matches that went the distance.
UP NEXT: Villanova now travels back to Jake Nevin Field House for its home conference lidlifter, squaring off against Xavier on Friday in the UNITAS match before the annual Jam The Jake contest Saturday versus Butler.
