VILLANOVA, Pa. – The Villanova Wildcats opened up the Wildcat Challenge with a W over a Philadelphia Big 5 rival, toppling the Temple Owls in straight sets (25-17, 25-23, 25-21) on Friday afternoon.

Campbell McKinnon and Abby Harrell each contributed double-digit terminations for Villanova (6-4) as the first-year middle McKinnon had 12 kills on a career-best .550 hitting percentage with a season-high seven digs.

Alyssa Nelson totaled her third double-double as a Wildcat with a match-high 18 assists and 13 digs while Lola Buck-Taylor had a career-best nine digs in the bout. 

"It's always good to get a win over a local team, especially in our gym," head coach Josh Steinbach said. "Campbell was a real spark tonight, we're grateful to have her on our side. We know we still have a long way to go and a lot of things to work on, but any night you get a win is a good one."

The opening period was dominated by the Wildcats, working through an early three-point Owl run to go up 7-6 and never trail again. A pair of visitor timeouts came in the course of 10 points, but it was to no avail as the 'Cats used a 5-0 stretch to close out a 25-17 victory.

Temple used a 7-0 scoring streak to gain an early edge in the second stanza, forcing a VU pause at 10-7. The Wildcats battled back into it for a deadlock at 13-all then added a few more onto that tally, eventually weathering a 6-0 Temple run to outlast the crosstown rivals 25-23 and go up two sets to none.

The 'Cats jumped out to an 8-4 advantage to open out the match but TU responded to even it up, then the sides traded points and runs until Villanova went up 16-15 and answered every Temple threat to win 25-21 and sweep the match.

With the victory, the Wildcats pull closer to even in the all-time series with the team's 22nd victory in the history of the matchup.

UP NEXT: Villanova will finish out its non-league calendar on Saturday night, taking on the winner of tonight's Marist-Rhode Island bout.