VILLANOVA, Pa. – Villanova volleyball wrapped up its four-match homestand in winning fashion on Saturday night, defeating the Seton Hall Pirates 3-1 (25-23, 24-26, 25-20, 25-16) to improve its home record to a formidable 7-1 while going 3-1 across the homestand.
Campbell McKinnon delivered a standout performance to spearhead the Wildcat attack, recording a match-high 21 kills alongside 12 digs and two service aces for a double-double.
Chloe Kelly added 12 kills and four blocks, while
Taylor Lewis contributed nine kills and a block.
Alyssa Nelson orchestrated the offense with 47 assists while securing a double-double of her own with 10 digs. On defense,
Mina Diggs matched McKinnon with a team-high 12 digs, and
Reagan McGivern posted a match-high six blocks to lead the effort at the net.
The 'Cats set the tone early in the opening set using a 7-1 scoring run highlighted by three McKinnon kills and a
Marikate Ritterbusch service run to jump out to an early lead. The Pirates went on to answer the 'Cats run by going on a 6-1 run of their own to trim the deficit to one at 8-7. VU responded as a Lewis service ace and a joint block from McGivern and Kelly pushed the lead back to 11-7. The two sides went on to trade points throughout the middle of the opening frame before SHU attempted a late-set rally, putting together another strong scoring run to once again trim the deficit to just one and force a Wildcat timeout.
Annika Veurink answered with a clutch kill out of the stoppage, and a Diggs-to-McKinnon connection brought up set point at 24-21. Seton Hall staved off two set points to close to 24-23, but Lewis sealed the 25-23 opening-frame victory with a putaway off a feed from Nelson.
The second set proved to be a tight, back-and-forth battle, featuring 12 ties and four lead changes. The 'Cats built an 8-5 lead following a 4-0 spurt highlighted by a McGivern kill, back-to-back Kelly kills and a joint block from the pair. The two sides again traded blows throughout the set before Seton Hall began to pull away, piecing together a 4-0 run. Villanova then pieced together a 6-0 response to jump back in front by 2. SHU answered out of the timeout to tie the frame at 20-20, and the sides traded points down the stretch once more. A Kennedy Horn service ace brought up set point for the Pirates at 24-22, but Nova staved off two set points behind a Seton Hall service error and a McKinnon putaway to tie it at 24-24. However, the Pirates capitalized on a Madison Loiselle kill and an attack error following an unsuccessful Wildcat challenge to take the frame 26-24 and even the match at one apiece.
Seton Hall used an early 6-0 run, highlighted by three Samantha Shelton aces, to jump out to a 6-2 lead in the third set. After trailing by four on two separate occasions and calling a timeout at 14-10, the 'Cats offense sparked a match-defining surge. Villanova launched a 5-0 run with Nelson serving, aided by a successful replay challenge that reversed a call and a subsequent unsuccessful Pirate challenge, to leap ahead 15-14. After Seton Hall knotted the score at 15-15, Nova again answered with a 4-0 run behind a Diggs service ace and consecutive kills from Lewis and McKinnon to extend the margin to 19-15. The Wildcats kept the Pirates at bay the rest of the way, using a McGivern kill and back-to-back Pirate attack errors to lock up a 25-20 victory and take a 2-1 lead in the match.
Villanova set the tone early again in the fourth set and took control with a 4-0 run behind back-to-back aces from McKinnon and a pair of Lewis putaways to pull ahead 7-4. Seton Hall briefly leveled the score at 7-7, but the Wildcats never surrendered the lead after that and used consistent offense from McKinnon, Lewis, and Veurink to take a 15-12 three-point lead into the media timeout. Out of the stoppage, Nova pulled away for good, stringing together a decisive 7-3 run thanks to a McGivern kill, two more McKinnon putaways, and a joint block by Lewis and McGivern to make it 22-15. After a Pirate timeout, a Veurink kill and a
Cat Young ace brought up match point at 24-15 before Kelly dropped in her 12th kill of the night off a set from Nelson to seal the 3-1 match victory for Villanova.
UP NEXT: Villanova hits the road next weekend, traveling to New England to face UConn and Providence. First serve against the Huskies is set for 6 p.m. EDT on Friday.
