VILLANOVA, Pa. – The Wildcats opened their BIG EAST season with a 3-1 victory over the Seton Hall Pirates on Jam the Jake night at Jake Nevin Field House. After losing the opening set, the Wildcats rallied back to take the next three sets over the Pirates.
Head coach Josh Steinbach on the victory, "great win for us. We need to start the BIG EAST strong so it's good to start with a win. I thought we served and defended at a high level and we fought through some good runs by Seton Hall. Looking forward to getting back at it Saturday."
Freshman outside hitter Clare Delaplane led the Wildcats with a season-high 22 kills and 12 digs. It was her second consecutive game with a double-double.
Junior libero Regan Lough had 27 digs for the Wildcats. It was her third game in a row with 25 or more digs.
Junior setter Emma Decker dished out 48 assists, one shy of her season-high. It was the seventh game this season that Decker has had 41 or more assists.
The other two Wildcats with double digit kills were sophomore outside hitter Mallory Potts with 12 and senior middle blocker Amanda Pedersen-Henry with 10.
The opening set was back and forth between the two teams. The score was tied 13 times and there were six lead changes. Villanova led 10-7 but Seton Hall went on a 7-4 run and the match was tied at 14. The two teams would trade points and the match would be tied again at 19. Villanova would lead 23-22 after a kill by Pedersen-Henry but Seton Hall would win the next three points to take the set 25-23. Clare Delaplane had seven of her 22 kills during this set.
In the second set, with the score tied at 9, Villanova went on a 9-4 run to give them the lead 18-13. The Wildcats continued to score giving them their largest lead of the set at 23-17. Villanova would tie the match at 1-1 after winning the set 25-21. Amanda Pedersen-Henry and Mallory Potts lead the Wildcats with four kills. Regan Lough had 10 digs during this set.
Just like the first two sets, the start of the third set was back and forth. With the score tied at 10, Villanova went on a 7-2 run to lead 17-12. Seton Hall would go on two little runs to tie the match at 19 but it was all Villanova after that. The Wildcats took five of the next six points to lead 24-20. Regan Lough served an ace to win the set for Villanova 25-20. Clare Delaplane had six kills during the third set.
Villanova led 5-2 in the fourth set leading to a Seton Hal timeout. The Pirates responded though going on a 13-6 run to take the lead 15-11. The teams traded points back and forth for the score to be 21-18 Seton Hall. But the Wildcats would take the next three points to tie the match at 21 after another ace by Regan Lough. The Pirates took two of the next three to lead 23-22. Villanova tied the match at 23 after a kill by Delaplane and then had match point after an attacking error by the Pirates. Delaplane would seal the match for Villanova with her 22nd kill of the match to win the set 25-23 and the match 3-1.
The Wildcats return to action this Saturday at 2:00 p.m. against Georgetown in Jake Nevin Field House.
