Final Stats

VILLANOVA, Pa. - The Villanova volleyball team is one step closer to punching their ticket to the BIG EAST Tournament on Saturday with a 25-8, 25-18, 26-24 straight set win over Georgetown. The tournament appearance will be the Wildcats first trip since 2011.

Coming into the weekend Villanova's needed a pair of wins and a pair of losses from both St. John's and Seton Hall. Villanova did their part with a five set win over Creighton and a three set bout with Georgetown. St. John's fell to Xavier and Butler on consecutive nights while Seton Hall was defeated by both Georgetown and Creighton.

"It's nice to have that out of the way," said Villanova head coach Josh Steinbach. "Even when the BIG EAST was 15 teams we never clinched until the last couple of weekends so this is the earliest that we've done it."

Against Georgetown the Wildcats (21-5, 11-2 BIG EAST) were led by another stellar performance by sophomore outside hitter Allie Loitz (Bonita, Calif./Bonita Vista). Loitz led the team with 13 kills on only 24 swings. Her three errors gave her a hitting percentage of .417 on the night.

Claire Crutchfield (Falls Church, Va./Bishop O'Connell) just missed double figures with eight kills while Lauren Carpenter (Lakewood, Colo./Lakewood) and Gabby Pethokoukis (Western Springs, Ill./Benet Academy) combined for 13 kills and no hitting errors.

Villanova played defense by committee as Michelle Adams (Sugar Land, Texas/William P. Clements) led the team with only 10 digs. Loitz and Allison Fitzgerald (St. Louis, Mo./Visitation Academy) finished with nine digs each.

Georgetown (10-16, 4-9 BIG EAST) was led by Paige McKnight who just missed a double-double with 16 assists and eight digs.

The first set was all Villanova as the Wildcats scored the first six points of the set and led the whole way. Villanova led 20-8 and ended the set on a 5-0 run, capped by Loitz's six kill of the frame.

The second set was more competitive with four lead changes and seven tied scores in the early stages. The Wildcats again closed the set with a fury as the home team broke open a 17-17 tie, ending the set on an 8-1 run. Pettit closed the set with one of her four service aces on the night.

After intermission Villanova led early, 7-5, before the visiting Hoyas rattled off nine straight points to take a 14-7 advantage. The Wildcats clawed their way back into the set with a 4-0 run and tied the score at 22-22 after a 5-0 run.

The teams traded serve on four points keeping the score even, 24-24. Villanova took the lead with a enthusiastic solo block from Pettit and put away Georgetown on the ensuing serve, an ace from Amanda Pedersen-Henry (Murrieta, Calif./Vista Murrieta High).

"We've got a lot of work still to do," continued Steinbach. "We're getting ready for Butler on Friday night but we're super excited to be going to Omaha on Thanksgiving."

The Villanova volleyball team will play that match that Steinbach mentioned Friday night at 8:00pm and follow it with an 8:00pm match at Xavier the following day.

Short Box Score (Match) 2015 Villanova Volleyball Georgetown vs Villanova (Oct 31, 2015 at Villanova, Pa.)

Villanova def. Georgetown 25-8,25-18,26-24

Georgetown (10-16, 4-9 BIG EAST) (Kills-aces-blocks) - KING, Liv 7-2-0; SAAR, Lauren 7-0-0; WILLIAMS, Ashlie 4-1-1; MCKNIGHT, Paige 3-2-1; EGBUONU, Somto 3-0-2; SPEECH, Symone 3-0-0; RICHARD, Meghan 1-0-0; SULLIVAN, Mariana 0-1-1; Totals 28-6-3.0. (Assists) - MCKNIGHT, Paige 16. (Dig leaders) - HIGAREDA, Kenzie 11; MCKNIGHT, Paige 8

Villanova (21-5, 11-2 BIG EAST) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Loitz, Allie 13-1-2; Crutchfield, Claire 8-0-0; Carpenter, Lauren 7-0-0; Pethokoukis, Gabby 6-0-4; PEDERSEN-HENRY, A. 6-1-0; Hickey, Colleen 1-0-0; Knight, Ashley 0-2-0; Pettit, Emma 0-4-3; Totals 41-8-5.0. (Assists) - Pettit, Emma 32. (Dig leaders) - Adams, Michelle 10; Loitz, Allie 9; Fitzgerald, Allison 9

Site: Villanova, Pa. (Nevin Field House) Date: Oct 31, 2015 Attend: 293 Time: 1:17 Referees: James McDonald, Chad Zimmerman Happy Birthday Colleen Hickey