Box Score

VILLANOVA, Pa. - In a rematch of the 2015 BIG EAST Championship match, the Villanova Wildcats (12-7, 3-3 BIG EAST) dropped a 20-25, 25-12, 25-19, 25-23 match to the first-place Creighton Bluejays (11-6, 5-0 BIG EAST) on Friday night at Jake Nevin Field House.

The Wildcats took the first set over Creighton 25-20, but the Bluejays rallied to dominate the second set, and squeaked out wins in the third and fourth sets for their fifth-straight BIG EAST win.

Claire Crutchfield (Falls Church, Va./Bishop O'Connell) hit .423 and connected on a team-high 15 kills in, while Darcy Wolf (Allentown, Pa./Central Catholic) added 11 kills on the day for the Wildcats.

Allison Fitzgerald (St. Louis, Mo./Visitation Academy) paced the defense with 13 digs, while Allie Loitz (Bonita, Calif./Bonita Vista) and Makenzie Northrup (San Clemente, Calif./San Clemente) both contributed 10 digs on the night.

Creighton was led by Taryn Kloth and Jaali Winters, who combined for 33 kills, more than half of the Bluejay's offense. Brittany Witt led the way with 17 digs for Creighton and Lauren Smith had a team-high five blocks.

With the first frame tied at 9-9, two Bluejay attack errors and Crutchfield's first kill of the match forced a Creighton timeout as Villanova took a 12-9 advantage. The Cats would keep the momentum, taking seven of the next 12 points to expand their lead to 19-14. A 4-2 Villanova run gave the Cats a 23-17 advantage late in the frame. Villanova finished off the Jays in the opening set, on a Crutchfield kill to take a 1-0 lead, winning the frame 25-20.

The Bluejays came alive in the second set, flying to a 10-5 advantage to force an early Villanova timeout. Led by four straight kills following the stoppage in play, Creighton enlarged their lead to 17-8. The Cats could not comeback from the deficit, falling 25-12 in the second stanza.

The third set started even between the two squads, with the score knotted at 6. Creighton found separation with a 5-1 run to take an 11-7 advantage. Following a Villanova timeout, the Cats clawed back from the small deficit to 1 at 12-11. The Jays kept their lead and would take an 18-13 lead, but once again, Villanova cut the lead to just two following an Emma Decker (LaGrange, Ill./Nazareth Academy) and a Loitz with the score at 18-16. Creighton responded from the run to increase their lead by two points to take a late 22-18 advantage. The Jays earned three of the last four points to win the set, 25-19.

The fourth set was Villanova's most efficient set on offense on the evening, hitting .286. The Cats jumped to an early 4-1 lead but a Creighton run cut the lead to 8-6. Villanova would hold small leads at 11-10, 12-11, 13-12, in hopes of holding off a Bluejay comeback, but Creighton would tie the set at 16. Creighton responded with a kill on the next point to give the Bluejays their first lead of the match. Following a Villanova timeout, the match was tight the rest of the way.

With the score tied at 23 apiece and the Villanova faithful on their feet, it was the Bluejays that earned the final two points as they took the set 25-23, and the match 3-1.

The Wildcats will look to finish their current home-stand on a high-note against the Providence Friars tomorrow night at 7 p.m at Jake Nevin Field House. The match will be broadcasted live on Nova All-Access.