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.—An exciting week of action saw the Wildcats men's and women's cross country teams each have five All-BIG EAST performers at the conference championships, while the field hockey team clinched a spot in the four-team BIG EAST Championship which is slated for this week. Nine teams in all competed during the week of October 26-November 2. The latest edition of the Villanova Athletics Weekly Wrap is below.
 
Men's Cross Country
Bailey Habler, Junior, Sydney, Australia
 
Habler finished fourth individually at the BIG EAST Championships for the second straight year and was one of five Wildcats who earned All-BIG EAST honors at last week's conference meet in Ashland, Neb. The Villanova junior covered the 8K course at Mahoney State Park in 23:16.0 and came in fourth out of 83 runners. It is the eighth straight year that the Wildcats have had at least five All-BIG EAST performers.
 
Women's Cross Country
Tilly O'Connor, Junior, Spring Lake, N.J.
 
O'Connor was the runner-up at the BIG EAST Championships with a time of 19:52.7 and earned first team All-BIG EAST honors for the first time in her career. It is the second straight start that O'Connor has been the Wildcats top finisher and she was one of four Villanova runners in the top 10 of the field of 96 runners. Villanova had a total of five All-BIG EAST honorees and has finished first or second in the team standings in all six of its competitions this season.
 
Field Hockey
Sophie Volkel, Freshman, Goalkeeper, Hamburg, Germany
 
Volkel had a season-high 12 saves at No. 7 Liberty as the Wildcats closed out the regular season last week. The freshman standout tallied her first career game with double digit saves and raised her season totals to 74 stops with a .712 save percentage. Villanova clinched a spot in the BIG EAST Championship this week and will be returning to Liberty to face the top-seeded Flame a second game in a row on Friday afternoon.
 
Rowing
Maggie Coyne, Senior, Madison, Conn.
 
Coyne has raced in every event for Villanova since joining the team and is a two-time All-CAA performer. In the team's penultimate event of the Fall season, she helped the V8 boat to a strong finish in a stacked field of teams at the Princeton Chase. Coyne and the Wildcats were the top finisher among CAA programs in the race and tallied a time of 15:20.327.
 
Men's Soccer
Fynn Lahrsen, Sophomore, Forward, Hamburg, Germany
 
The second native of Hamburg, Germany to appear on this week's wrap, Lahrsen netted his third goal of the season as Villanova hosted St. John's over the weekend. Lahrsen struck in the 79^th minute for the Wildcats only tally of the game. He is leading the team this season with 27 shots and 10 shots on goal while tying for the team lead with three goals and seven points.
 
Women's Soccer
Hannah Dickinson, Senior, Goalkeeper, Seattle, Wash.
 
Villanova's senior goalkeeper tallied five saves, including four in the second half, as the Wildcats finished the season with a 0-0 draw against Butler. Dickinson tallied her eighth solo shutout of the season in 18 starts and ended the year with sterling marks of a 0.96 goals-against average and an .802 save percentage. It is the second straight year that Dickinson has posted a save percentage of .800 or better.
 
Men's Swimming & Diving
Owen Nye, Sophomore, Freestyle, Burlington, N.C.
 
Nye was a double winner for the Wildcats in the team's home opener against La Salle, winning the 1000 yard freestyle in 9:30.69 and later the 500 free in 4:38.52. The second year freestyle specialist, who broke into Villanova's all-time top 10 in both the 1000 free and the 1650 free as a freshman last season, helped the Wildcats post a 168-132 team win over the Explorers.
 
Women's Swimming & Diving
Arabella Lee, Senior, Butterfly/Backstroke, Marlboro, N.J.
 
Lee broke the pool record in the 100 fly during Villanova's home opener against La Salle. She posted a winning time of 54.99 and came in just under a tenth of a second lower than the previous pool record of 55.08 which was set by a swimmer from Penn in November 2021. Lee was also the winner of the 100 back with a time of 55.78 in the La Salle meet and helped the Wildcats improve to 4-0 on the year with a 181-114 win over the Explorers.
 
Volleyball
Abby Harrell, Junior, Outside Hitter, Ellenburg, Wash.
 
Harrell was the top Villanova hitter in a pair of road matches against Xavier and Butler last week. She led the Wildcats to a 3-1 win in the Butler match with a double-double of 10 kills and 16 digs while also recording four service aces and two blocks. In the first match of the weekend, Harrell had a team-high 11 kills and eight digs against Xavier. She is averaging 3.80 kills per set and 2.89 digs per set this season. Both are team highs.

 

 

Villanova Athletics Scoreboard
 
October 27-November 2
 
Wednesday, October 29
 
Swimming & Diving: vs. La Salle (diving only)
 
Friday, October 31
 
Women's Cross Country: BIG EAST Championships (2^nd of 11)
Men's Cross Country: BIG EAST Championships (3^rd of 9)
Field Hockey: No. 7 Liberty 5, Villanova 0
Volleyball: Xavier 3, Villanova 0
 
Saturday, November 1
 
Women's Swimming & Diving: Villanova 181, La Salle 114
Men's Swimming & Diving: Villanova 168, La Salle 132
Volleyball: Villanova 3, Butler 1
Women's Soccer: Villanova 0, Butler 0
Men's Soccer: St. John's 3, Villanova 1
 
Sunday, November 2
 
Rowing: Princeton Chase (no team scoring)
 
This Week's Schedule
 
November 3-9
Home events in bold and are listed first
 
Monday, November 3
 
7:00 PM           Women's Basketball vs. Lafayette
 
9:30 PM           Men's Basketball vs. BYU (Las Vegas, Nev.)
 
Tuesday, November 4
 
2:00 PM           Men's Soccer vs. Holy Family
 
Wednesday, November 5
 
5:00 PM           Volleyball vs. Georgetown
7:00 PM           Women's Basketball vs. Fairfield
 
3:00 PM           Women's Swimming & Diving at Penn
 
Thursday, November 6
 
All Day              Golf at Big 5 Invitational (Plymouth Meeting, Pa.)
 
Friday, November 7
 
1:00 PM           Field Hockey at #1 Seed Liberty (BIG EAST Semifinal)
7:00 PM ET (6:00 CT)   Men's Soccer at Marquette
8:30 PM ET (7:30 CT)   Volleyball at Creighton
All Day             Men's Tennis: Dragon Invite
 
Saturday, November 8
 
7:00 PM           Men's Basketball vs. Queens University of Charlotte
 
12:00 PM         Men's Swimming & Diving at Providence
1:00 PM           Football at Towson
All Day             Men's Tennis: Dragon Invite
All Day             Rowing: Marist Fall Scrimmage
 
Sunday, November 9
 
2:00 PM           Women's Basketball vs. VCU (Toronto, Ont.)
All Day             Men's Tennis: Dragon Invite