VILLANOVA, Pa.—Freshman outside hitter Riley Homer (Grand Rapids, Mich.) and freshman middle blocker Kiera Booth (Berlin, Pa.) were bright spots for Villanova (2-2, 1-1 BIG EAST)) offensively in a 3-1 loss to Connecticut (2-3, 2-2 BIG EAST) at Jake Nevin Field House on Saturday evening. The visiting Huskies won the match 19-25, 25-19, 25-21, 25-10 in a flip of the 3-1 victory posted by the Wildcats one night earlier.
 
Homer paced all players in the match with 18 kills on 43 attempts while Booth added eight kills and just one attack error. The two freshmen combined for 28 kills and a .371 hitting percentage on the evening. Sophomore middle hitter Kathleen Johnson (Houston, Texas) also tallied eight kills on the night and junior outside hitter Clare Delaplane (Downers Grove, Ill.) chipped in with seven kills.
 
"It felt great to be back in action this weekend and I think the team was excited just to play," Villanova head coach Josh Steinbach said. "Although we didn't get the result we wanted tonight, we will learn and get better from [the match]. Our young kids played well and that was a positive for us."
 
The match got off to a fast start for the Wildcats, who attacked at a .324 clip in the opening set and used an 8-1 run to jump out to a 10-4 lead. Johnson and Delaplane started that run with consecutive kills, followed by Booth and Delplane recording a block. Graduate transfer libero Averi Salvador (Aiea, Hawaii) recorded a service ace and Connecticut committed an attacking error as Villanova scored five consecutive points.
 
Sophomore setter Belle Morgan (Cincinnati, Ohio) consistently distributed the ball to Homer and Booth, who combined for 11 kills without any errors in the first set. Morgan had 15 assists in the first set alone and finished the night with 42, the third time in four matches this season she has had 42 or more assists. Homer recorded her first collegiate double-double with 18 kills and 12 digs for the night.
 
Salvador posted a match-high 19 digs and senior defensive specialist Sarah Allman (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) added 12, while Booth and freshman middle blocker Maddie Barber (Cedarburg, Wis.) tallied four total blocks apiece.
 
Just as they had on Friday evening, the teams split the first two sets. The Huskies led 14-12 when they scored five of the next six points to stretch the margin to 19-13, and from there they comfortably held on to even the match at one set each. Villanova built a 10-5 lead in the third set and still led 17-15 after a Booth kill later in the set, but Connecticut took its first lead of the set at 19-18 and made that surge a 7-2 run which pushed the score to 22-19.
 
The decisive stretch of the fourth and final set came early, as the Huskies used an 11-3 spurt to lead 13-6 and force the Wildcats to call their second and final timeout of the set. Connecticut led 21-12 when Villanova made a spirited push to narrow the margin, eventually closing to 23-19 with a 7-2 run. The teams then traded service errors before a Huskies kill accounted for the final point of the match.
 
Friday night's match to open the weekend series was the first in 18 days for the Wildcats, who canceled or postponed six straight matches due to COVID issues. Steinbach noticed the effects of the layoff on his team more in Saturday's match than the previous night.
 
"It isn't easy to predict what will happen during this type of season," Steinbach said. "We had some kids out who have not had the opportunity to practice as much and I thought that showed tonight more than last night." 
 
Villanova travels to St. John's for a 5 p.m. contest on Wednesday night in the first of two matches between the teams this season.