VILLANOVA, Pa. – Villanova volleyball got itself back in the win column on Saturday night, taking down Marquette in four sets (33-35, 25-19, 25-13, 25-19) at Jake Nevin Field House for VU's first win over the Golden Eagles since 2017.
It was a season high in a pair of categories for the Wildcats (16-5, 7-3 BIG EAST), totaling 16 blocks on the night while putting up 15 service aces to blow away the previous season high of nine and record the most single match aces for VU since at least 2014.
Abby Harrell contributed a 16-kill, 13-dig double-double with a match-best five service aces to lead Villanova in all three categories and post a season-high 23 points.
Campbell McKinnon added 11 kills and six blocks, Reagan McGivern chipped in a career-high 10 blocks and eight kills at a team-best .583 clip and Cat Young put forth 12 digs and four blocks for the 'Cats.
Taylor Lewis posted a career-best .571 hitting percentage on the evening, totaling eight kills with zero errors on 14 swings. Alyssa Nelson added a team-high 27 assists in addition to four aces and Ava Harris dished out 21 helpers to allow the 'Cats to hit .378 as a team.
"That's a good win for us. We played really cleanly in the fourth to seal the deal," head coach Josh Steinbach said. "Taylor was really good tonight which helped us spread the offense a bunch. Our middles played really well, our passing steadied throughout and I thought Ava (Harris) had her best setting match to date."
The sides exchanged runs in the first up through the media timeout, then Villanova took five of the next six scores to lead 20-17. That forced an MU break but the Golden Eagles re-grouped and moved to a 23-22 edge of their own. It was a marathon from there on out, featuring 18 extra points before Marquette finally grabbed three straight for a 35-33 first set win.
VU used four straight to wrest control early in the second and lead by six at the media timeout, but as in the first the Golden Eagles rallied right back to tie it at 17 apiece. The Wildcats strung together a few points to force both MU pauses and ended the period on a 7-0 run to even up the match with a 25-19 victory.
Villanova jumped out to an 8-2 advantage to begin the third and prompt an early Marquette timeout, then an 8-0 run gave the 'Cats a double digit edge. The home side kept that momentum throughout the remainder of the frame, dominating their way to a 25-13 win and a lead in the match.
It was a closely contested fourth with the score being within one through 13-12, but Villanova surrounded the media timeout with three points to take command of the frame. The Wildcats closed the period out by doubling up Marquette the rest of the way, finishing it at 25-19 as a four-set VU W.
It's the fifth win for the Wildcats historically against the Golden Eagles and the third at Jake Nevin Field House, and it marks the first time since 2011 that MU has dropped back-to-back BIG EAST regular season contests.
UP NEXT: Villanova will take to the road for its final away weekend of 2025, heading to Cincinnati for a Friday evening match at Xavier before a Saturday square off at Butler.
