OMAHA, Neb. – The Villanova Wildcats finished out their stay at the BIG EAST Tournament on Friday night, falling to the two seed Marquette Golden Eagles in straight sets (24-26, 14-25, 16-25) in a BIG EAST Semifinal bout.
Seven players made an appearance in the kill column for Villanova (17-14, 9-9 BIG EAST), paced by nine from Abby Harrell. Taylor Lewis posted six terminations while Campbell McKinnon had five kills and four blocks.
Elizabeth Feczko contributed a match-best 18 digs with Alyssa Nelson (team-best 16 assists) and Taylor Jakubowski (13 assists) each totaling double-digit helpers on the day.
Ozzie Ozonoh tied with McKinnon for a match-high in rejections (four) and Riley Homer added four kills plus a pair of blocks. Sophomore hitter Marly Smith put up two kills and a pair of digs in her BIG EAST Tournament debut.
"We had our moments tonight but ultimately didn't have enough in us," head coach Josh Steinbach said. "This is a great group and I'm really proud of their effort this season. Thank you to our seniors for all they've done for our program."
It was a remarkably even first frame featuring 17 ties and six lead changes as the teams traded points and runs up until the end of the set. Villanova strung a run together to lead 15-13 at the media timeout, then neither side led by more than one the rest of the way up until MU took back-to-back points to claim the period 26-24. The Wildcats out-blocked (five to two), out-served (no errors to four) and out-dug (19 to 15) the Golden Eagles in the opener while committing less hitting errors in the game as well.
Marquette was able to outlast the 'Cats on a number of long rallies in the early parts of the second stanza, going up 12-9 to force a VU pause. The tournament's second seed took the next seven straight to seize control, moving to a 25-14 win of the frame.
The Golden Eagles utilized a pair of runs to create some distance in the third period, getting ahead 13-6 before a Villanova break. The 'Cats got some points back by taking four out of five at one point, but Marquette re-grouped and continued on to a 25-16 W and sweep of the match.
UP NEXT: The Wildcats' 2024 season comes to a close, finishing out the 29th winning season and 25th BIG EAST Tournament appearance in program history.
