CHICAGO – Villanova volleyball had its seven-match win streak snapped in a five-set loss to DePaul on Friday night in Chicago. Villanova won the first set before DePaul got hot and took sets two and three for a 2-1 lead. The Wildcats battled back to take the fourth and force a fifth, but came up short in the final set.
 
Sophia Howling had a career-high 19 kills to lead the Wildcat offense, doing so on .438 hitting. Kathleen Johnson had another double-digit performance on offense with 14 kills. Emma Decker finished with 51 assists, matching her season high. Three Wildcats notched double-digit digs as Regan Lough led with 18, Clare Delaplane had 16 and Decker rounded out her double-double with 11.
 
Villanova took care of business in the first set with a 25-21 win. Nova led 20-15 and appeared to be on the verge on putting the set away, but five straight points by DePaul knotted it at 20. A useful timeout from head coach Josh Steinbach helped the Wildcats regroup and score five of the final six points thanks to three kills from Howling, Johnson and Decker.
 
DePaul found its groove in the second set. It was tight at the beginning, but at 14-14, a 4-0 Blue Demon run gave them all the cushion they needed. Villanova could not get closer than three, and DePaul took the set 25-20.
 
It was more of the same in the second set. Villanova trailed just 11-10, but a 5-0 by DePaul was too much to recover from. Trailing 23-16, Howling gave it her best effort with three consecutive kills, but it wasn't enough as DePaul held on to win the set 25-19.
 
Facing defeat in the fourth set, Villanova was able to get back on track. A 3-0 start from the Wildcats set the tone and they never trailed in the set. DePaul did tie the set at 11-11, but a 4-0 run propelled by kills from Howling and Delaplane helped Villanova build the lead it needed. Howling then polished off the set with the final two kills for a 25-20 win.
 
In the same fashion as the previous four sets, a close start with an insurmountable run was the story of the fifth. Villanova led 6-4, but DePaul rattled off six points in a row to go up 10-6. DePaul stretched that lead to as far as 14-7 before closing it out at 15-10.
 
The Wildcats dropped their first match in nearly a month (last was Oct. 18) and fall to 20-6, 11-4 in BIG EAST play.
 
It will now be a quick turnaround for the 'Cats who head north to Milwaukee for a battle with No. 9 Marquette tomorrow night.
 
Tomorrow night's match will begin at 7 ET/6 CT.