New for the 2025-26 academic year, Villanova will announce its top performers from the previous week in a press release and social media post each Monday afternoon. The weekly wrap will recognize one standout student-athlete from each sport who competed during the previous week.
 

VILLANOVA, Pa.—Big wins for women's cross country and football highlighted a busy week with 10 teams in action during the period from September 29 through October 5. The latest edition of the Villanova Athletics Weekly Wrap is highlighted by graduate student Margaret Carroll (Mount Wolf, Pa.) from cross country and redshirt freshman defensive lineman Ugo Nwotite (Linwood, N.J.) after they played key roles in their team's success last week.
 
Carroll was the top finisher for the Wildcats at the Paul Short Run and was one of three Villanova runners who placed in the top nine out of more than 350 athletes at the starting line. It all added up to one of the biggest team performances in the last few years for the Wildcats, who were the team champion of the women's gold race at the meet. Carroll covered the 6,000 meter course at Lehigh in 19:38.3 to post the fourth-fastest time ever by a Villanova runner at the standard 6K cross country distance. She eclipsed her previous PR at the distance by nearly 36 seconds.
 
The football team traveled to New Hampshire for its third road game in a span of four weeks and came away with a 37-7 triumph in a key conference victory. It was the best defensive performance of the season for the Wildcats and Nwotite played a leading role with the first two sacks of his collegiate career. Both of his sacks came in the second quarter, including one for five yards on the first UNH possession of the quarter and another for a loss of nine yards which forced New Hampshire to punt inside Villanova territory. The two tackles were also a career high for Nwotite, who is emerging as a key player for the Wildcats this year.
 
Graduate forward Ava Borkowski (Conshohocken, Pa.) from field hockey and sophomore forward Dez Zapata (Dover, Del.) from women's soccer were key players in their team's victories last week. Borkowski scored two goals in a 5-0 conference win over Georgetown to record her fifth career game and second this season with multiple goals scored. She added two shots in Villanova's non-conference game at American later in the week. Zapata netted the game-winner and only goal for the Wildcats in a 1-0 win at DePaul when she scored her first collegiate goal in the 70^th minute. Villanova played a player down for the final 60 minutes of the game but outshot the host Blue Demons by a 10-6 margin in the victory.
 
The volleyball team passed the midpoint of its regular season this weekend and sophomore middle blocker Campbell McKinnon (Collierville, Tenn.) continued her torrid play with 22 kills, a .348 hitting percentage and 10 total blocks in matches against Butler and Xavier. She was one of the stars of a 3-0 sweep of he Bulldogs to open the weekend when she collected 10 kills on 14 swings to go along with four block assists. In a narrow 3-2 loss to the Musketeers on Saturday night, McKinnon tallied six block assists to go along with 12 kills.
 
Senior Matt Zerfass (Macungie, Pa.) from the golf team carded consecutive rounds of 70 (-2) over the final 36 holes of the UConn Invitational at Great Horse to tally his best Villanova finish. Zerfass tied for third out of 84 golfers in the 54-hole event and finished the tournament at 213 (-3). His final round on Tuesday included four birdies at holes 6, 8, 10 and 14.
 
Villanova got strong performances last week from sophomore Charlie Moore (Brisbane, Australia) of the men's cross country team and junior midfielder Mikhail Zaretser (Brooklyn, N.Y.) from men's soccer. Moore was the Wildcats top finisher at the Paul Short Run and finished seventh overall out of more than 350 runners in his first collegiate race at the standard 8,000 meter distance. He covered the Goodman Campus Course at Lehigh in 23:24.1 in a field of runners that included some of the top teams from the Mid-Atlantic region and nationally. Zaretser has earned his first two starts of the season in the last two games against Connecticut and Providence. In the team's only game last week, he registered two shots against the Friars.
 
Rounding out the Weekly Wrap are senior Emi Callahan (Lake Forest, Ill.) from women's tennis and sophomore Cameron Kruep (Denver, Colo.) from men's tennis. Callahan and the Wildcats took on several teams in the Villanova/Delaware Invite over the weekend, with Callahan scoring a pair of doubles victories during the team's final Fall tournament. She teamed with Alina Kornyeva for a 7-6 victory on Friday and paired with Jenna Stevens for a win over Seton Hall on Saturday. Kruep was the champion of the Black draw at the Saint Joseph's Invitational and outlasted teammate Jack Sherner in an all-Villanova final.
 

Villanova Performers of the Week for September 29-October 5
Sport	Name	Class	Position	Hometown
Women's Cross Country	Margaret Carroll	Graduate		Mount Wolf, Pa.
Men's Cross Country	Charlie Moore	Sophomore		Brisbane, Australia
Field Hockey	Ava Borkowski	Graduate	FWD	Conshohocken, Pa.
Football	Ugo Nwotite	R-Freshman	DL	Linwood, N.J.
Golf	Matt Zerfass	Senior		Macungie, Pa.
Men's Soccer	Mikhail Zaretser	Junior	MID	Brooklyn, N.Y.
Women's Soccer	Dez Zapata	Sophomore	FWD	Dover, Del.
Women's Tennis	Emi Callahan	Senior		Lake Forest, Ill.
Men's Tennis	Cameron Kruep	Sophomore		Denver, Colo.
Volleyball	Campbell McKinnon	Sophomore	MB	Collierville, Tenn.

 
Villanova Athletics Scoreboard
 
September 29-October 5
 
Monday, September 29
 
Golf: UConn Invitational at Great Horse (tie-2^nd of 15, Round 2 of 3)
 
Tuesday, September 30
 
Golf: UConn Invitational at Great Horse (5^th of 15, Final)
 
Wednesday, October 1
 
Women's Soccer: Villanova 1, DePaul 0
 
Friday, October 3
 
Volleyball: Villanova 3, Butler 0
Field Hockey: Villanova 5, Georgetown 0
Men's Soccer: Providence 5, Villanova 0
Women's Cross Country: Paul Short Run (1^st of 40)
Men's Cross Country: Paul Short Run (8^th of 40)
Women's Tennis: Villanova/Delaware Invite (no team scoring)
Men's Tennis: Saint Joseph's Invitational (no team scoring)
 
Saturday, October 4
 
Football: Villanova 37, New Hampshire 7
Volleyball: Xavier 3, Villanova 2
Women's Tennis: Villanova/Delaware Invite (no team scoring)
Men's Tennis: Saint Joseph's Invitational (no team scoring)
 
Sunday, October 5
 
Field Hockey: American 3, Villanova 0
Women's Tennis: Villanova/Delaware Invite (no team scoring)
Men's Tennis: Saint Joseph's Invitational (no team scoring)

This Week's Schedule
 
October 6-12
Home events in bold and are listed first
 
Tuesday, October 7
 
3:00 PM           Men's Soccer vs. NJIT
 
Thursday, October 9
 
7:00 PM           Volleyball at Georgetown
 
Friday, October 10
 
1:00 PM           Field Hockey vs. Old Dominion
 
Saturday, October 11
 
1:00 PM           Men's Soccer vs. Seton Hall
7:00 PM           Volleyball vs. Creighton
 
10:00 AM         Men's and Women's Swimming & Diving at NJIT
2:00 PM           Football at Elon
8:00 PM           Women's Soccer at St. John's
 
Sunday, October 12
 
12:00 PM         Field Hockey vs. Penn