VILLANOVA, Pa. -- The Villanova Wildcats (12-8 overall, 3-5 BIG EAST) begin their second four-match homestand of the year this weekend, hosting the Seton Hall Pirates and St. John's Red Storm on Friday and Saturday at Jake Nevin Field House.

FRESHMAN PHENOM    

What a debut campaign it's been for freshman outside hitter Abby Harrell, who has stepped right into the Wildcat lineup and has been the program's most impactful player. In her first year on the Main Line, Harrell has tallied a team-high 243 kills, which is 56 more than the next closest player. The Washington native has added 155 digs, 23 total blocks and a team-best 29 service aces while playing all six rotations and taking over 650 swings. She's now made four appearances on the BIG EAST weekly awards, earning two Freshman of the Week nods as well as two honor roll selections plus an All-Tournament laurel in the Catholic Challenge. Harrell is fourth in the conference in points, third for service aces and sixth in total kills, the lone first year to appear that high on any of those lists.

FAMILIAR FOES    

Two teams that have made a lot of appearances in Jake Nevin Field House come to town this weekend, as Seton Hall and St. John's have combined for 104 all-time matches against the Wildcats. The 'Cats have dominated the recent series against the Pirates, with just two losses and eight victories going back to November of 2017. SHU's last win in the series was on the Main Line though, as the Pirates took down VU 3-1 on Oct. 1 of last year. It's been a more even result with the Johnnies, however, as the Wildcats have gone 5-5 against them dating back to November of 2017, which was preceded by five straight Villanova wins. Last year's matches featured a split, with Villanova's victory coming in front of a sellout crowd at Nevin. That crowd was due to the Hoops Mania Bonus Lottery Game, which also happens to come this weekend but against Seton Hall this time around, so the 'Cats expect a raucous crowd in attendance against the Pirates. 

PREVIEWING THE PIRATES    

• Seton Hall comes to the Main Line in a similar situation to the Wildcats, holding a 3-5 mark in conference play but under .500 overall. The Pirates picked up sweeps over UConn and Providence in the opening BIG EAST contests, then didn't win again in conference until a five-set win over DePaul on Saturday.
• SHU has been one of the best blocking teams in the league, averaging 2.16 per set for second in conference with two individuals among the top five, and the Pirates also rank fourth in team digs. Offensively, Seton Hall ranks last in hitting percentage, seventh in assists, eighth in kills and sixth in service aces. 
• Madeline Matheny has totaled 183 kills on the year, while Perri Lucas and Jenna Walsh are each over 100 terminations as well. The Pirates run a 6-2 offense with a pair of setters above 275 assists, and libero Anna Holland leads at 179 digs.

READING INTO THE RED STORM    

• St. John's enters the weekend on a high, having upset BIG EAST preseason favorite Marquette on Saturday in five sets. The Red Storm maintain a 15-5 overall record with a 7-1 mark in conference, the lone loss coming against now-No. 16 Creighton. 
• SJU is one of the BIG EAST's top teams in most offensive categories, ranking third in kills, fourth in hitting percentage and assists as well as second in service aces on the year. The Johnnies, however, rank last in digs and eighth for blocks, but maintain the third-best opponent hitting percentage in the league.
• Erin Jones and Giorgia Walther do the heavy lifting for SJU's offense with 225-plus kills each, and setter Wiktoria Kowalczyk ranks fifth in assists per set and first in service aces. The Johnnies trot out a freshman as their starting libero, Rashanny Solano Smith, who has 3.97 digs per frame.

Streaming for both contests will be available on FloSports and stat links on StatBroadcast, with Friday's matchup set to begin at 7 p.m. while Saturday starts at 5 p.m. ahead of the Hoops Mania event.

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