Final Stats

VILLANOVA, Pa. ââ'¬" Amanda Pedersen-Henry (Murrieta, Calif.) and Allie Loitz (Bonita, Calif.) had 12 kills each in Villanova's 3-0 (25-21, 26-24, 25-20) upset over #13 Creighton. This victory puts the Wildcats one win away from reaching the BIG EAST tournament with one game to play against Providence tomorrow night.

Villanova (17-11, 10-7 BIG EAST) Team Stats

49 kills

44 assists

4 service aces

58 digs

2 blocks

#13 Creighton (22-6, 15-2 BIG EAST) Team Stats

40 kills

38 assists

2 service aces

56 digs

3 blocks

Villanova Individual Stats

Amanda Pedersen-Henry: 12 kills, .478 hit pct., 6 digs, 1 service ace

Allie Loitz: 12 kills, 10 digs, 12 points

Emma Decker (LaGrange, Ill.): 3 kills, 40 assists, 4 digs, 1 service ace

Allison Fitzgerald (St. Louis, Mo.): 21 digs, 1 service ace, 2 assists

Creighton Individual Stats

Jaali Winters: 14 kills, 11 digs, 15 points

Lydia Dimke: 35 assists, 5 digs, 2 kills

Samantha Bohnet: 15 digs, 1 service ace

Set 1:

The first set started out even with the teams getting out to a 5-5 tie. Villanova started to gain some momentum after a couple Creighton errors and kills from Amanda Pedersen-Henry and Remy Fairchild (Southlake, Texas) to force a Bluejays timeout leading 10-6. Out of the timeout, the Wildcats continued to roll extending that lead to 16-10 after back to back kills from Darcy Wolf (Allentown, Pa.) and Allie Olsonoski (New Orleans, La.). The Bluejays got in back within three at 17-14, but Villanova scored two straight to regain a five point lead. Emma Decker had a pair of kills to force a timeout by Creighton at 21-15, but the Bluejays got it back within three again at 21-18. Villanova was able to hold strong at the end of the match and pull out a 25-21 victory after two kills from Wolf.

Set 2:

Creighton took away the Wildcats momentum to start the set getting out to an 8-3 lead forcing an early Villanova timeout. Out of the Timeout the Wildcats got back to back kills from Allie Loitz and Olsonoski to trail 8-5. They eventually tied the score at 10 after two kills from Fairchild and gained their first lead of the set at 12-11. The teams tied at 12, 13, 14 and 15 before Villanova took a 17-15 lead after another kill from Olsonoski and a Creighton attack error. The Bluejays took a timeout and were able to score three straight points out of the timeout to regain an 18-17 lead. The teams tied again at 18, 19 and 20 before two straight scores from the Wildcats gave them a 22-20 lead. Creighton battled back to 23-23, and the teams tied again after trading scores to 24 but a kill from Fairchild and a Creighton attack error closed it out for the Wildcats at 26-24.

Set 3:

Villanova carried their momentum from the first two sets to get out to a 6-2 lead following a pair of kills from Loitz and a kill from Pedersen-Henry to force a Bluejays timeout. They extended their lead to 11-3, but Creighton went on a 9-5 run to bring the score within four at 16-12. The Wildcats remained composed, maintaining their four point lead to 18-14 before Creighton got it within two following a kill at 18-16. The score stayed within two after a service ace from the Bluejays at 20-18, but Villanova was able to rattle off three straight points to take a 23-18 lead late in the set. Creighton got the score to 24-20 but a service error cost them the set 25-20 and Villanova won the match 3-0.

After the massive win, Head Coach Josh Steinbach stated, "this was a huge win for our program, this team and these seniors. We did a really good job in side out offense and I give credit to our passers who were lights out. Emma Decker had a fantastic night spreading Creighton around the net. Amanda (Pedersen-Henry) was incredibly clutch and Allie (Loitz) and Allie (Olsonoski) played solid as well. It's a huge win but we've got to be great tomorrow to move on."

This win was the first for Villanova against a ranked opponent under Head Coach Josh Steinbach.

Next in their Schedule:

Villanova faces off against Providence tomorrow night for Senior Night at 7 p.m. in Jake Nevin Field House. A win over the Friars would secure the Wildcats the final seed in the BIG EAST Tournament.