CHICAGO, Ill. -- Villanova volleyball continues its 2024 BIG EAST calendar with the first full road weekend of league play, traveling to DePaul for a Friday night matchup before a trip to Xavier's gym and a Sunday afternoon contest.

'CATS ARE HOT    
The Wildcats kicked off BIG EAST play last week with a pair of important victories, sweeping Georgetown in the conference lidlifter before taking down Seton Hall in South Orange for an unblemished opening weekend. In addition to the importance of a hot start in league play, the wins were critical because those are the two squads Villanova only faces once in conference, so if necessary the 'Cats hold the tiebreaker over both the Hoyas and Pirates. The victories also brought Villanova's win streak to six in a row dating back to Sept. 14 and the set loss to Seton Hall (a 25-20 second period) marked the first dropped frame in the last 15 they've competed.

PERFECTLY BALANCED, AS ALL THINGS SHOULD BE    
The Villanova front row is deeper than ever this year with seven hitters and blockers taking over 100 swings and playing in more than 25 sets out of the possible 47. Abby Harrell and Cat Young have taken the lion's share as the two six-rotation outsides always on the floor, Harrell leading the squad at 150 kills while Young has converted 95 terminations. Campbell McKinnon and Ozzie Ozonoh have held down the two middle blocker spots, each hitting over .300 with a BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on their resume this year. The only undetermined spot has been opposite hitter, where hard-hitting junior Tara Garvey (five starts, 85 kills), veteran Riley Homer (six starts, 42 kills) and freshman Taylor Lewis (four starts, 37 kills) have each seen their moments. And on the bench as an important piece of depth is Marly Smith, who saw time in 18 matches before injury last year.

DIVING INTO DEPAUL

• The Blue Demons come into the weekend at 10-4 overall, undefeated in BIG EAST play after victories over Butler and Xavier. DPU swept the Bradley Tournament and split both the San Diego State Tournament and the Chicago Cup, then dropped just one set in its opening conference weekend.
• Outside hitter and unanimous all-BIG EAST selection Jill Pressly leads the conference in kills at 4.19 per set, while AVCA All-Region libero Rachel Krasowski has the most total digs in the BIG EAST (243).
• Like VU, the Blue Demons split time among their setters with Ashley Cudiamat and Amanda Saeger each totaling over 275 helpers. Audrey Klemp and Aly Kindelberger are also forces at the net, leading the squad in blocks and ranking second and third for kills.

X-RAYING XAVIER

• Projected to finish sixth in the conference, it's been a disappointing start for Xavier with just three wins in 2024. The Musketeers swept Butler on Saturday for a split in the BIG EAST's first weekend, but split a pair of preseason tournaments after losing four straight to open the campaign.
• Setter Logan Flaugh has been one of the conference's top players, racking up 471 assists for the second highest conference mark.
• Three Musketeers have topped 100 kills on the year, with redshirt freshman middle and King of Prussia native Margo Kemp hitting .372 on her 115 terminations.

Both of this weekend's bouts will be streamed on FloSports with all of the live stats published on StatBroadcast.