VILLANOVA, Pa. – In front of a crowd of over 1,300 fans at Jake Nevin Field House on Friday evening, Villanova volleyball defeated the Seton Hall Pirates in four sets (25-15, 31-29, 22-25, 25-15).
A trio of attackers led for Villanova (13-8, 4-5 BIG EAST) as Abby Harrell (15), Skylar Gerhardt (14) and Madeline Barber (13) each totaled double-digit kills, with Harrell adding her fifth double-double of the year with 14 digs.
Andrea Campos contributed a match-high 47 assists and four service aces while Taryn Whittingham led all participants with 18 digs on the night.
"It's always good to get BIG EAST wins," head coach Josh Steinbach said. "Seton Hall always plays really hard and it's big to get this win, especially since we only play them once this year and it gives us the tiebreaker over them."
The Wildcats jumped out to a big advantage to begin the match, going up 12-5 to open the first stanza. SHU battled back with five straight to bring its deficit to three but it was another big Villanova run to get the lead back to seven, then closing it out with a 5-1 stretch to take the opening frame.
Seton Hall led for much of the second set, with VU's first edge coming at 19-18. The two teams traded points for the rest of the period, going far beyond the typical 25-point ending. Finally, the 'Cats strung together three straight terminations, one from Kiera Booth and two for Gerhardt, to end it at 31-29 with a two-set advantage.
In the second set alone, Villanova put up 24 total kills, which sets a VU all-time record for most kills in a single stanza based on available records.
The Pirates took an early edge in the third frame, going up 7-2 to force a Wildcat timeout. Villanova got it back to a one-point deficit three separate times and finally drew even at 22-all, but SHU strung together three straight to force another set.
It was another tightly contested beginning to the fourth period, with Seton Hall getting out to a 12-11 advantage. From there, it was serving dominance from Campos, sending the 'Cats on an 10-0 run around two SHU timeouts. VU was able to close it out with five more, beginning the weekend with a four-set W.
The win continues Villanova's dominance in the recent series against the Pirates, with nine victories and just two losses dating back to November of 2017. The Wildcats move to 45-20 all-time against Seton Hall, stacking back-to-back wins after last year's November victory.
UP NEXT: The Wildcats will wrap up the weekend by hosting St. John's on Saturday, squaring off against the Red Storm at 5 p.m. from Jake Nevin Field House.
