SOUTH BEND, Ind. – It was a come-from-behind Wildcat win on Sunday to cap the Catholic Challenge, outlasting the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in five sets (25-27, 25-16, 20-25, 26-24, 15-10) at the Purcell Pavilion.
Abby Harrell was named the Tournament MVP while Campbell McKinnon and Cat Young each earned All-Tournament honors after the two-win weekend. It's just the sixth ever victory for the Wildcats over the former BIG EAST foe and the first win against the Irish since 2011.
A trio of players contributed double-doubles for Villanova (2-0), including an 18-kill, 11-dig effort from Harrell, a career-high 17-kill, four-ace and 14-dig outing out of Young and a match-high 30 assists and 11 digs for freshman Ava Harris.
McKinnon added 16 terminations on .467 hitting with a trio of blocks, Taylor Lewis totaled eight kills and Alyssa Nelson put forth 24 assists and eight digs.
"That's a huge win for a young team," head coach Josh Steinbach said. "I'm proud of the composure we showed today."
It was hotly contested for much of the first frame as the Wildcats kept it within three despite a strong start from ND, then went on to force a pair of Notre Dame timeouts as VU grabbed a one-point edge. Each side staved off a set point, but the Irish strung together three straight scores to take the opener 27-25.
The second set was deadlocked up through 11-all until the 'Cats took seven of the next eight to pick up an 18-12 edge and force an ND pause. Villanova grabbed five of the following points after that break and worked around a few Notre Dame points to pick up a 25-16 win and make it an even match.
ND turned a 5-5 third stanza into a 13-7 lead and prompted a VU timeout, but five straight Villanova points brought the score back within a pair. The Irish were able to expand the advantage back up to six and grab the period 25-20.
Frame four saw Notre Dame take an early two-point edge and grab hold of the set early, going ahead by as many as six. Down 23-18 and on the verge of a match loss, the Wildcats rattled off four in a row to force an ND break. Coming out of the pause, the Irish got to set point but four straight VU scores gave the visitors a 26-24 victory to force a decisive fifth.
The teams traded points in the final period up until Notre Dame grabbed an 8-7 edge to switch the sides. After a Young kill to even it at eight apiece, Harris went to the service line and Villanova took the next four points to force both Irish pauses.
Coming out of the break needing three points, the 'Cats used two kills and a block to get what they needed en route to a 15-10 win to secure a Power Four win and a flawless weekend.
UP NEXT: It'll be an active week coming up for the Wildcats, who travel to Binghamton for a Wednesday night matchup before hosting the Villanova Classic at the Jake Nevin Field House from Sept. 5-7.
