Villanova, Pa. - Villanova volleyball (18-6, 9-3) will host two home matches this weekend when No. 9 Creighton (19-3, 12-0) and Providence (6-19, 1-11) both pay visits to Jake Nevin Field House. Villanova will face off with league-leading Creighton on Friday at 7 p.m., followed by a short turnaround when they face Providence Saturday at 4 o'clock.
Villanova is currently in third place in the BIG EAST, holding a two-game lead over St. John's with six matches remaining in the regular season.
The 'Cats are currently on the longest winning streak of their season, but that will be put to the test against Creighton, who has now won 31-straight regular season BIG EAST matches. However, the last loss did occur in Jake Nevin in 2017, a straight-sets victory for Nova.
Villanova opened up this season's BIG EAST play in Omaha and fell to Creighton in straight sets.
Sophia Howling led the 'Cats with eight kills while
Emma Decker had 25 assists in the loss.
Something will have to give in the Creighton match. Villanova is second in the conference in hitting percentage at .270 as a team, but the Bluejays lead the conference by holding opponents to just .154 this season.
Creighton's offense is led by freshman Keeley Davis, who is posting 3.17 kills/set. The offense is balanced and high-powered, with three players in the top-10 in the conference in kills/set. They are paced by Madelyn Cole, dishing out a league best 11.03 assists/set. The defense is led by Brittany Witt's league leading 4.93 digs/set.
About 20 hours after the conclusion of Friday night's match, Nova will be back in action to face Providence. The Friars has struggled in BIG EAST play, but did pick up its first conference win last weekend in straight sets over Seton Hall. Villanova downed the Friars 3-1 in the first meeting this season.
Allie Olsonoski finished with 10 kills and Decker handed out 36 assists in the win.
Providence is led by Addison Root and Jennifer Leitman, each with over 200 kills. Leitman's 3.07 kills/set is good for sixth in the BIG EAST. Allison Barber does it all for the Friars, being the team's assist leader with 767, as well as the digs leader with 278.
Each match will be available on Nova Nation All-Access, along with live stats and twitter updates on @NovaVolleyball.
