MILWAUKEE, Wis. – The opening weekend of November brings Villanova volleyball (13-8, 6-4 BIG EAST) to the Midwest, visiting the RV Marquette Golden Eagles on Friday and No. 6 Creighton Bluejays Sunday in a pair of BIG EAST bouts.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN    
It's a return to the skies for Villanova, making just their third flight trip of the year and first since the opening weekend of October. The 'Cats own a 5-4 record in road matches in 2024, four of those Ws coming in conference play. Villanova secured four straight wins away from home in a stretch from Sept. 15 to Oct. 6, but two of the losses have come in the last two weeks. The Wildcats have been a more efficient attacking team on the road in fact, owning 490 kills and a .240 hitting percentage in away matches compared to a .205 clip on the Main Line. Defensively it's been a similar track record with the net presence on road trips significantly higher than at Jake Nevin. VU has 15 more solo blocks and 12 more block assists on the road despite playing more games at home.

FIRST YEAR FRENZY    
The early season success of the Wildcats is in large part due to its stellar crop of freshmen, with five of the six newcomers playing a significant role on the court. This class of first-years boasts two of the top three hitters, the leading assister and the top mark in digs. Campbell McKinnon has dominated at the net despite her 5-foot-10 stature, Alyssa Nelson has nearly 100 more assists than her veteran counterpart, Cat Young is top five on the team in each of the five major categories and Taylor Lewis & Lola Buck-Taylor have made their presence felt on the right side and back row respectively.

MONITORING MARQUETTE

• The Golden Eagles, receiving votes in the AVCA Top 25 poll, return to the Al McGuire Center with a record of 15-6, 9-1 in conference play with the lone loss coming against Creighton on October 1. MU went 4-0 last week alone, sweeping each of UW-Milwaukee, Princeton and Georgetown while outlasting Seton Hall in five sets last Friday evening.
• Marquette ranks near the top of the BIG EAST leaderboard in almost every category, second in the league for hitting percentage, kills, digs and opponent hitting percentage. The Golden Eagles are 21st in the country for kills per set with top 50 marks in hitting percentage, assists per frame and digs per set.
• Aubrey Hamilton is MU's top attacker at 3.71 kills per set in conference play, Yadhira Anchante is the team leader in assists with top 10 BIG EAST marks for helpers and digs, and both middles (Hattie Bray and Carsen Murray) are top 10 in the league for hitting percentage.

BREAKING DOWN THE BLUEJAYS

• Creighton owns its highest AVCA national ranking in program history at No. 6, undefeated in BIG EAST play at 10-0 with a 19-2 overall record. CU has won its last 12 matches with a 10-0 mark in their friendly confines of DJ Sokol Arena.
• The Bluejays maintain the second best hitting percentage in the country at .313, plus top 10 national marks in opponent hitting, assists per set, kills per set and match winning percentage.
• Ava Martin and Norah Sis form an impressive 1-2 punch as six-rotation hitters, both top five in the BIG EAST for kills and service aces. CU also has the conference leader in hitting percentage (Elise Goetzinger, .425), assists (Kendra Wait, 11.32 per set) and blocks (Kiara Reinhardt, 1.30 per set), with the second best in digs (Maddy Bilinovic).

Friday's match will stream on FloSports and feature stats on MU's Sidearm page, with Sunday's broadcast on Nebraska Public Media and statistics courtesy of StatBroadcast.