SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – Villanova volleyball swept the opening weekend of conference play, following up Friday's sweep of Georgetown with a four-set win (25-21, 20-25, 25-21, 27-25) at Seton Hall on Saturday.
It was a strong offensive night for the Wildcats, who hit .259 in the match in the match with 63 total kills as a unit and five players at more than eight terminations.
Abby Harrell led Villanova (9-4, 2-0 BIG EAST) with a match-best 17-kill, 13-dig double-double while Tara Garvey added 13 kills on .381 hitting and Campbell McKinnon totaled 12 terminations. Alyssa Nelson contributed a career-high 30 assists with 12 digs for her fourth double-double as a Wildcat.
In a return to her alma mater, Taylor Jakubowski contributed her third straight double-double on 22 assists and a game-best 14 ups. Senior middle Ozzie Ozonoh tied her career-high with eight kills on .389 hitting and three solo blocks for a match-high five total blocks.
"It's always nice to start the BIG EAST with two wins," head coach Josh Steinbach said. "We didn't play our best match today and still got a win, that's the sign of a good and improving team."
The Wildcats got out to an early advantage in the match, jumping all over the Pirates with multiple four-point runs to go up nine on several occasions. SHU strung together six straight of its own to prompt a VU pause, but the 'Cats regrouped and pulled out a 25-21 set one win.
After a one-tie first frame, the second was far more competitive as the squads exchanged runs up until Seton Hall gained a 21-18 edge for a Villanova break. The Pirates took four of the final five points, delivering VU its first set loss since September 15.
Set three included multiple early Wildcat advantages, maintaining a lead of four up until five straight SHU points forced a Villanova timeout trailing 16-15. With Nelson at the service line, the 'Cats rattled off six straight to secure a commanding lead and continue on to a 25-21 win.
The fourth was the closest yet featuring 16 ties and seven lead changes coming in the period. Villanova eventually broke a 22-all tie and got it to match point, but Seton Hall rattled off three straight to come within one point of a final frame. Ensuing kills by Garvey and Cat Young staved off a decisive fifth and put the 'Cats back into the driver's seat, then a Pirate attack error stood following a lengthy SHU challenge and meant a 27-25 W as well as a match victory.
Villanova's edge in the all-time series expands even further to 46-20, and the wins over both Georgetown and Seton Hall secure the tiebreaker in Villanova's favor for BIG EAST playoff seeding as the 'Cats only play each once this year.
UP NEXT: The Wildcats take their first flights since August, traveling to Chicago and Cincinnati next weekend for a Friday night bout at DePaul before a Sunday afternoon contest at Xavier.
