VILLANOVA, Pa.—If a five-set match which went to extra points three times could possibly have its tone set on the very first rally of the night, that was the case on Friday evening when Villanova (4-2, 3-1 BIG EAST) played in front of home fans for the first time in 16 months and outlasted Seton Hall (3-5, 1-4 BIG EAST) in a thriller at Jake Nevin Field House. A seesaw battle that went on for nearly two-and-a-half hours was finally won by the Wildcats with set scores of 25-18, 24-26, 25-14, 28-30, 16-14.
 
"It was a great night in Nevin," Villanova head coach Josh Steinbach said, "It was nice to have a small group of fans tonight and that certainly felt good. Seton Hall played really well and I am excited to have gotten the win. It was a hard-fought win for us."
 
Redshirt junior middle hitter Sophia Howling (Los Angeles, Calif.) led a balanced Wildcats offense with 19 kills and a .452 hitting percentage on the night. Junior outside hitter Clare Delaplane (Downers Grove, Ill.) also had 19 kills to go along with a career-high 21 digs, while freshman outside hitter Riley Homer (Grand Rapids, Mich.) chipped in another double-double with 16 kills and 11 digs. Freshman middle blocker Kiera Booth (Berlin, Pa.) added 12 kills with only three hitting errors.
 
Both teams played very strong defense which led to several long rallies throughout the night. Graduate libero Averi Salvador (Aiea, Hawaii) had a team-high 26 digs for the Wildcats, who finished with 75 digs in the match compared to 70 for the Pirates. There were a combined 351 attack attempts by the two teams in the marathon.
 
"Averi and Clare were fantastic defensively and really bailed us out of trouble when we needed it," Steinbach said. "Sophia had a great night and set the tone for us on offense."
 
The game was afoot from the start, as sophomore setter Belle Morgan (Cincinnati, Ohio) stepped back to serve and start a rally which saw the ball go over the net 14 times before a Villanova attack error finally awarded the first point of the night to Seton Hall. Morgan eventually finished the night with a career-high 50 assists. Salvador gave the Wildcats another boost with six service aces, part of a season-high 14 aces for Villanova in the match.
 
There were major turning points late in the second and fourth sets, with the Pirates ultimately winning each of those frames to tie the match at 1-1 and 2-2. After the Wildcats jumped out to an early 6-2 lead in the second set, Seton Hall stayed within striking distance and eventually evened the score at 19-19. The score would also be tied at 20-20 and 21-21, but consecutive kills by Delaplane and Homer put Villanova in front 23-21 and forced a Pirates timeout. Two points later the score was 24-22 and the Wildcats had set point with a chance to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
Seton Hall tied the score again however, with an attack error by Delaplane and a kill by Pirates middle blocker Amanda Rachwal pushing the score to 24-24. Seton Hall won the next two points as well to win the set, 26-24. There were six ties in the set, although the lone lead change came when the Pirates went in front (25-24) on the second-to-last point of the set.
 
Villanova hit .400 (19-5-35) in the second set after a .162 attack percentage in the first stanza, but Seton Hall hit .429 (13-1-28) to put equally steady pressure on the opposing defense. Howling had seven kills without an attack error (7-0-8) in the second set and Morgan had 18 assists in the frame. The hot hitting continued for Howling in the third set as she racked up six more kills and the Wildcats hit .317 (16-3-41) to take a 2-1 set lead.
 
The momentum did not carry over to the fourth set. The Pirates raced out to leads of 7-1 and 9-3, and looked to put the set away easily when the score was 20-12 on a block that came right after Villanova used its final timeout of the set. Not so fast. A solo block by Howling – she led all players with seven total blocks – was followed by a kill from Delaplane and back-to-back aces by Salvador as the Wildcats comeback bid gained some legs. A block by Homer and Booth made it a five-point run and Villanova trailed just 20-17.
 
Seton Hall led 23-19 and 24-22, but on four separate occasions the Wildcats staved off set point to tie the score at 24, 25, 26, and 27. Finally a kill by Delaplane gave Villanova its first lead of the set at 28-27, which actually set up match point with the Wildcats leading the match 2-1 and Homer going back to serve. The final burst in the set went to the Pirates however, as they won three straight points to take the set 30-28. It was the first time a team needed at least 30 points to win a set in a Villanova match in a span of 46 matches since the Wildcats lost a 33-31 opening set to St. John's on October 19, 2018.
 
The decisive fifth set was – what else – a back-and-forth affair. Seton Hall won the first three points and had leads of 3-0 and 4-2. Four straight kills by Booth, Delaplane (twice) and Morgan put Villanova on top for the first time in the set with a 7-5 margin. The score was later tied at 9, 10 and 11 – sound familiar – before a kill by Howling and an ace by Salvador gave the Wildcats a 13-11 advantage. Next up: ties at 13 and 14. A kill by Homer finally made the score 15-14 and an ensuing attack error by the Pirates ended the night.
 
If the five sets weren't enough, the teams will face each other again at Jake Nevin Field House on Saturday night at 7 p.m.