While the vast majority of our campus was celebrating Homecoming this past weekend, the women’s volleyball team was traveling the length of the East Coast to take on competitors at South Florida and Georgetown.

Friday night, the Wildcats fell to the South Florida Bulls in a three-set match, leaving their overall record at 11-12 before traveling to Georgetown on Sunday afternoon. Junior Kacy Sellers walked away from Friday’s match with an impressive 12 kills while sophomore teammate Alona Cherkez also entered double-digits with 10 kills. Adrian Semrau and Dana Tartasky also contributed with seven and six respectively.

Cherkez also excelled on the defensive end of play, logging 10 digs before the match was over. As a team, the defense played well recording 36 digs compared to the 28 recorded by USF.

The difference in the match may have been the team’s hitting percentages. In the third and final game the ‘Cats posted a .135 hitting percentage which paled in comparison to the .412 that the Bulls recorded

Despite their greatest efforts, the Wildcats were not able to clinch a victory, leaving Florida with an 18-30, 24-30, 22-30 loss.

Despite Friday’s disheartening defeat, the Wildcats rallied on Sunday afternoon and finished with a well-deserved victory against the Georgetown Hoyas. Sellers led the team with 19 kills and was followed by Cherkez, Kelly Ludwig and Adrian Semrau with 15, 13 and 11 kills respectively.

After falling in the first game 27-30 the Wildcats fired back with an explosive 30-16 victory in game two. Although the two teams went point-for-point at the beginning of the game, the Wildcats’ offense fired up when the score was tied at 7-7, finishing the match with a .343 hitting average.

The Wildcats used their momentum to battle their way back from a one point deficit at the end of the third game. Down 24-23, ‘Nova battled to a 29-29 score before ultimately taking the win after huge plays by Cherkez, Sellers and Chelsea Graman.

Villanova went on to pound the Hoyas in game four (30-12), sealing the match with a 3-1 victory. The ‘Cats posted an impressive .517 hitting percentage.

Highlighting the match was another impressive showing for the Wildcat defense. As a team, Villanova recorded 71 digs. Georgetown only managed to post 48.

Villanova’s next match will be at home this Saturday at 1 p.m. vs. Syracuse, followed by a game on Sunday at 2 p.m. vs. the Marquette Golden Eagles. The two Big East match-ups kick off a four game homestand for the Wildcats followed by two road games to end the year.