VILLANOVA, Pa. – The Villanova volleyball team tallied its fourth BIG EAST win on Thursday night, taking down the Georgetown Hoyas in five sets (25-18, 25-23, 23-25, 25-27, 15-12) at the annual "Jam the Jake" match.
The victory marks the 250th career win for head coach Josh Steinbach, who is already the winningest coach in Villanova volleyball history.
"I don't like to celebrate these markers, but it feels good to know that I've done all of that at Villanova, a place I love," Steinbach said. "Tonight was a really hard-fought match and we're glad to come out with a win."
It was a well-balanced attack for Villanova (8-19, 4-11 BIG EAST) as Kiera Booth (16 kills, four blocks), Tara Garvey (14 kills) and Riley Homer (double-double with 12 kills, 14 digs) all notched double-digit kills.
Madeline Barber (eight kills, four blocks) and Rose Crist (eight kills, team-high five blocks) were also powerful net presences for VU. Elizabeth Feczko led all players with a career-high 27 digs, while Andrea Campos led the 'Cats with 26 assists and Taryn Whittingham totaled a match-high four service aces.
This win extends VU's edge in the all-time series, giving the 'Cats an eight-match advantage over GU. Villanova is now 18-10 against the Hoyas throughout history, with this victory snapping a two-match losing streak.
The 'Cats got off to a hot start in the first, leading 6-2 and 7-3 to begin the match. Despite Georgetown closing the gap to one, VU stormed its way to multiple leads of five or more and took the frame 25-18.
It was the Hoyas who took an early advantage in the next period, as GU led by as many as four. But after Georgetown led 11-7, VU went on a 7-2 run to take a 14-13 lead of its own. The rest of the stanza was highly contested, but it was the Wildcats who ended as the victor with a 25-23 win.
After the two sides were tied at 3-3, Villanova snatched momentum for a while as the 'Cats moved all the way to a 17-13 advantage. But the Hoyas continued to make it a close score and took a lead at 23-22, then got the two points they needed to pick up a 25-23 victory.
Villanova got out to another hot start in the fourth, taking six of the first seven and getting to an 11-2 advantage. GU used a 13-6 run to bring the set back to a one-point deficit, then made it a tie match with a 27-25 win.
The Wildcats took the first three points of the decisive fifth stanza, including a pair of aces from Whittingham. As was the story of the game, though, the Hoyas came back from a five-point deficit and tied the score at 10-10. But VU got its momentum back and finished the frame on a 5-2 run, taking the match in five sets.
UP NEXT: Villanova now readies for its final home match of the season, preparing to host Butler at 7 p.m. on Saturday evening for Senior Night.
