INDIANAPOLIS – Villanova volleyball suffered its first conference loss on Friday evening, falling in straight sets (19-25, 16-25, 25-27) to the Butler Bulldogs to open BIG EAST play.
Campbell McKinnon paced the 'Cats with nine kills and seven blocks in the contest, while
Alyssa Nelson (12 assists, nine digs, and one ace) led the other statistical categories. Indiana native
Ava Harris and fellow Midwesterner
Marikate Ritterbusch each added an ace of their own.
The Wildcats were never truly able to settle into the match as the home side jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the opening set. Villanova battled back on two separate occasions, knotting the set at five and eight before Butler regained the lead at 15-13 heading into the first media timeout. The Bulldogs remained in control down the stretch despite a 3-0 push from the 'Cats and sealed the set off a bad set from Villanova.
The second set was more of the same as Butler was able to build an 8-2 advantage, forcing the Wildcats to burn their first timeout before the media. Villanova was never able to tie the set in the second as the hosts stayed in the driver's seat throughout its duration, ultimately taking the middle frame 25-16 to bring up match point heading into what proved to be the deciding set.
In the match's final set, the Bulldogs once again jumped out to an early multi-point lead at 6-1. The Wildcats were able to close the deficit, though, and pull in front of Butler using a 9-0 scoring run to go up 12-7 midway through the set. The two sides would go back-and-forth until VU began to slightly pull away again, leading by two at 15-13 heading into the evening's final media timeout. Coming out of the media, Villanova built its largest lead of the match as
Chloe Kelly and
Michelle Eburuoh recorded back-to-back kills, prompting another Butler timeout at 19-15. VU was able to bring up set point at 24-21 after a kill from
Abby Harrell. However, Butler rallied three consecutive set points, tying the frame at 24 all. A
Loren Winn kill gave the 'Cats one more chance to finish off the third set at 25-24, but the Bulldogs answered with three straight points, closing out the set on a service ace at 27-25 to seal the 3-0 victory.
UP NEXT: Villanova will conclude its first BIG EAST road trip of the season tomorrow when it takes on the Xavier Musketeers at 4 p.m. EDT.
