OMAHA, Neb. – It's conference championship time in BIG EAST volleyball and the Villanova Wildcats (16-13, 9-9 BIG EAST) are in Omaha, Nebraska, as the sixth overall seed. Villanova kicks off its second straight and 26th all-time appearance in the league tournament on Wednesday evening, a date with the #3 Connecticut Huskies on tap at 6:00 p.m. Eastern.

ASSESSING THE FIELD    
The Wildcats descend upon DJ Sokol Arena as the championship's final seed, set to square off against #3 Connecticut on Wednesday evening with a potential semifinal date on Friday against second seed Marquette. The 'Cats have met up with UConn in the tournament nine times but not since 1997 (a 3-1 semifinal victory), and VU owns a 7-2 playoff mark against the Huskies with three of those Ws coming in the first round. Villanova has faced the Golden Eagles just once, a semifinal loss in 2019. The possible final opponents for the BIG EAST crown include St. John's (2-1, first round Ws in 1995 and 96, loss in 2023), DePaul (never met in Tournament) and Creighton (0-3, final loss in 2015 and semifinal losses in 2017 & 2018).

PAIR OF WILDCATS NAMED TO ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM    
For the second straight year, a pair of Villanova Wildcats earned conference yearly accolades as sophomore hitter Abby Harrell was named to her second All-BIG EAST team and first year middle Campbell McKinnon earned mention on the all-freshman squad. The 'Cats were one of five schools that placed multiple athletes on the all-conference lists, joining fellow BIG EAST Tournament participants Creighton (seven players honored), Connecticut and DePaul (both four) and Marquette (three). 2024 marks the 14th time in the 50-year history of Villanova volleyball that VU has gotten multiple all-conference awardees, following a 2023 where Harrell and Kiera Booth did the same. 

INSIDE THE ACCOLADES

• Harrell followed up her Freshman of the Year season with another standout campaign, totaling a team-high 334 kills and 33 aces with 223 digs and 42 blocks. The Washington native ranked 10th in the conference for kills per set (3.21) and aces per frame, compiling the most kills by a league player in a three-set match with 22 against Princeton. Villanova's top hitter racked up seven double-doubles with 18 double-digit kill performances, including in each of the last six contests. The 5-foot-10 sophomore is the 11th Villanova player all-time with multiple all-conference honors in their career and the eighth to do it in back-to-back years.
• McKinnon became the sixth Wildcat in history named to the all-freshman team, joining current teammates Harrell, Rose Crist and Riley Homer on that list. The first-year accumulated 239 kills, 96 blocks and 21 service aces on the year, leading the team in rejections and second for terminations in her debut campaign. The Tennessee native had the most blocks and second best hitting percentage among league freshmen with her .334 clip placing fifth among all players over three attacks per set.

HEAR ABOUT THE HUSKIES

• Connecticut comes in as the third seed in the tournament with an overall record of 24-6, undefeated in non-conference play but 12-6 against BIG EAST squads. UConn ended the season with three straight sweeps and captured both regular season matchups with the Wildcats. 
• Statisically, the Huskies are second in the league for opponent hitting, blocks and service aces plus third for hitting percentage and fifth for assists, kills and digs.
• UConn earned five All-BIG EAST honors in the yearly awards, first-year libero McKenna Brand recognized as Co-Freshman of the Year plus an All-Freshman Team selection and 1000-assist setter Doga Kutlu receiving a unanimous All-BIG EAST laurel. Graduate middle Taylor Pannell and team kill and ace leader Emma Werkmeister picked up all-conference nods as well.

The match will have a stream courtesy of BEDN on FloSports with statistics available on StatBroadcast. Tickets can be purchased on Creighton's Ticketmaster site.