Final Stats

CHICAGO, Ill. - The Villanova volleyball team dropped the first two sets before battling back to beat DePaul 19-25, 21-25, 25-22, 27-25, 15-13 in a five set thriller Friday night in Chicago.

"We didn't play super smoothly the whole night," said Villanova head coach Josh Steinbach. "A comeback like that is a big step for us."

The Wildcats (19-4, 9-1 BIG EAST) had four players with double digit kills. Allie Loitz (Bonita, Calif./Bonita Vista) led the way with 17 kills, Claire Crutchfield (Falls Church, Va./Bishop O'Connell) had 16 kills, Gabby Pethokoukis (Western Springs, Ill./Benet Academy) posted 13 kills and Amanda Pedersen-Henry (Murrieta, Calif./Vista Murrieta High) rounded out the Villanova attack with a dozen kills.

Emma Pettit (Ft. Collins, Colo./Fossil Ridge) controlled the offense with a season-high 58 assists.

Loitz completed her double-double with 14 digs. Allison Fitzgerald (St. Louis, Mo./Visitation Academy) led the category with 19 digs.

DePaul (13-9, 2-8 BIG EAST) was led in the loss by Caitlyn Coffey and Colleen Smith. Coffey led the team with 13 kills while Smith had 47 assists, nine digs and six kills from her setter position.

"DePaul played super hard and they deserve a lot of credit for how they played," continued Steinbach.

The first set was tied on 10 occasions with the final tie at 11-11. DePaul took over the set with a 5-1 run to make the score 19-14. The five point lead was enough to earn the Blue Demons the win in the set.

Set number two was even closer with 14 tie scores. Again a 5-1 DePaul run broke a 19-19 tie to take a 24-20 lead late in the set. The Blue Demons took a 2-0 lead in the match with back-to-back set wins.

After intermission the third set was locked at 9-9 before a 6-0 run gave the Wildcats a 15-9 lead. DePaul trimmed the lead to two, 23-21, but could get no closer. A Crutchfield kill ended the set and Villanova trailed 2-1 after three sets.

Villanova took a 17-14 lead after a 3-0 run but DePaul responded later in the set with a 3-0 run to tie the score at 21-21. The score was 25-25 when Crutchfield put the Wildcats ahead and Pethokoukis ended the set to tie the match at 2-2.

The decisive fifth set was tied 8-8 when DePaul score three straight points. Villanova responded with a 5-0 run to take a 13-11 lead. Loitz ended the match with the final kill from the right side.

The Villanova volleyball team continues their run in the BIG EAST with a match against Marquette tomorrow at 7:00pm.

Short Box Score (Match) 2015 Villanova Volleyball Villanova vs DePaul (Oct 23, 2015 at Chicago, Ill.)

Villanova def. DePaul 19-25,21-25,25-22,27-25,15-13

Villanova (19-4 (9-1 BIG EAST)) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Loitz, Allie 17-2-3; Crutchfield, Claire 16-0-0; Pethokoukis, Gabby 13-0-6; PEDERSEN-HENRY, A. 12-0-3; Carpenter, Lauren 7-0-4; Pettit, Emma 2-0-3; Knight, Ashley 0-1-0; Totals 67-3-11.0. (Assists) - PETTIT, Emma 58. (Dig leaders) - Fitzgerald, Allison 19; Loitz, Allie 14; Pettit, Emma 9

DePaul (13-9 (2-8 BIG EAST)) (Kills-aces-blocks) - COFFEY, Caitlyn 13-0-6; MAXWELL, Brittany 12-1-4; KING, Jasmine 11-1-6; HUEBENER, Callie 9-2-4; GALLOP, Saige 8-0-2; SMITH, Colleen 6-2-2; GRAHAM, Tyler 1-0-0; BUESER, Haley 0-2-0; Totals 60-8-13.0. (Assists) - SMITH, Colleen 47. (Dig leaders) - GRAHAM, Tyler 14; SMITH, Colleen 9

Site: Chicago, Ill. (McGrath-Phillips) Date: Oct 23, 2015 Attend: 415 Time: 2:14 Referees: Denis Bergstedt, Inga Rzeszutko