NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Villanova volleyball team followed up a marathon five-setter on Friday evening with a quick dispatching of Colgate on Saturday afternoon, taking down the Raiders in three sets (25-21, 25-22, 25-19) at John J. Lee Amphitheater.
It was a well-balanced attacking day for Villanova (4-4) with six players tallying four or more kills in the contest as the team combined for a .327 hitting percentage. Cat Young led the way with 10 as fellow first-year hitter Taylor Lewis contributed a career-high eight kills on .333 hitting.
Alyssa Nelson paced the match with 26 assists and a pair of service aces, adding nine digs to lead the Wildcats on the day.
Abby Harrell and Campbell McKinnon each had nine kills and four block assists while Ozzie Ozonoh put down five kills and totaled a career-best six blocks including the lone VU solo stuff of the afternoon.
Josh Steinbach missed a second straight match due to illness, so top assistant Joe Portland functioned as the acting head coach once again.
"Colgate is a great team that does some nice things, but we stayed poised under pressure and took advantage of our opportunities," Portland said. "We are learning and getting better every day."
Villanova went on a few runs to establish momentum in the first frame, getting leads of 9-5 and 21-16 before continuing to a 25-21 victory thanks to .324 hitting in the opening stanza.
The second was a game of runs as the Wildcats got out to a 9-6 edge to force an early Colgate timeout, then the Raiders responded with four straight of its own to cause a VU pause. The sides started trading points up until McKinnon took control for the 'Cats, putting a kill to the floor before showcasing some serve and back row prowess to help VU get a 25-22 win.
After the teams traded through the first third of set three, Villanova took five of the next six to become the first to 15 and incur the media timeout. The Wildcats stormed their way to the finish, withstanding a late Colgate string for a Saturday sweep.
With the victory, the 'Cats remain undefeated all-time against the Raiders, moving to 6-0 historically in matches with Colgate.
UP NEXT: Villanova will remain in the Constitution State, heading southwest to Fairfield for a Sunday afternoon matchup with the Stags to finish out the Yale Invitational.
