VERMILLION, S.D. – Villanova volleyball finished out the non-conference slate on a high note Saturday, toppling Wichita State in a five-set marathon (25-20, 21-25, 20-25, 30-28, 15-13) to close the South Dakota Classic.
As a team, it was the most kills, assists, digs and blocks in a single match this season while Abby Harrell established a new team season-best in individual kills and digs, Ava Harris set a new season-high in assists and Reagan McGivern the same for blocks.
Harrell led the way for Villanova (9-2) with a match-high 21 kill, 18-dig double-double while Cat Young added a career-high 18 terminations and Campbell McKinnon contributed 16 kills, six blocks and three aces.
McGivern rejected a career-best eight shots while Ava Mehrten totaled seven stuffs of her own. Harris put up a double-double of 31 assists and 11 digs while both Mina Diggs (13) and Marikate Ritterbusch (10) added a career-best with double digits in the digs column.
"It's very nice to get out of there with this win," head coach Josh Steinbach said. "I'm really happy with how we turned things around. Mina gave us a defensive spark, our middles were really good and Ava (Mehrten)'s blocking was really big."
It was back-and-forth action for almost the entirety of the first featuring 16 ties and six lead changes. Villanova broke the 17-17 tie by eventually taking five of the next seven points to seize control and proceeded to finish it out with a 4-1 run to take the opener 25-20.
The Wildcats kept the pressure on to open the second with a 4-1 edge but the Shockers were ready for the challenge and rattled off multiple runs to grab a multi-point lead. Villanova got it back within one to force a WSU break, but Wichita State re-grouped and wrapped up the set with a 25-21 win for an even match.
WSU was ahead early and often in the third, breaking a seven-all tie and advancing the lead up to seven. The 'Cats were able to shorten it to three, but the Shockers got the two points necessary to advance to a one-set advantage with a 25-20 victory.
It was another evenly matched set in the fourth as the period required extra points after featuring 18 ties. Both sides staved off set points and it took all the way until 30-28 when back-to-back VU points ended the frame and forced a winner-take-all fifth.
The opposition started the final period on a hot note, getting up 7-3 to prompt a Villanova timeout before the side switch. But the Wildcats proceeded to rattle off an eight-point run to command the stanza and weathered a 4-1 Wichita State stretch, ending the match as a VU victory with a career-high setting kill from the sophomore Young.
UP NEXT: BIG EAST play is up next for the Wildcats as they'll head north for a weekend in the New York metropolitan area, taking on St. John's in the conference lidlifter Friday before a 5 p.m. bout at Seton Hall the following day.
