Jake Nevin Fieldhouse was filled with rowdy students at the conference home opener Friday night when Villanova volleyball (5-11, 1-3 Big East) pulled off its first conference win of the season in a crucial matchup against St. John’s (12-5, 3-1 Big East).

However, the next night, ‘Nova dropped a four-set decision to Seton Hall (12-4, 3-1).

Villanova head coach Josh Steinbach was happy to see the turnout for the St. John’s game.

“The energy was really good,” Steinbach said. “They were loud early, and I think that was probably a little intimidating to St John’s. It was a packed house for sure.” 

The Wildcats came into this weekend needing a win following two losses last weekend. They had the most packed atmosphere of the year for the Hoops Mania promotion. In doing so, they rewarded the fans with a four-set win, 3-1, over the Red Storm, which was 11-4 and had won both of their first two conference games.

Andrea Campos, who has been taking over the setting duties as of recently, had an strong performance that included 34 assists. 

“She’s one of our most athletic players with her ability to run,” Steinbach said. “I thought she had an incredible night Friday night, where she seemed to get hitters in rhythm really well. She will keep starting for us this next week.” 

Not only did Campos have a great night setting, but she also had four aces for Villanova, which was one of the big vulnerabilities for the team earlier in the season. Villanova has seemed to get the serve worked out, with the Wildcats tallying eight aces, including another two from senior Maddie Schieder. Schieder is now at 11 aces in the last seven games. 

“I think we have definitely been serving better over the past couple of weeks,” Steinbach said. “We’ve been starting to serve better at home, and we are starting to put defenses in vulnerable situations with how we’ve been serving.”

On offense, junior Kiera Booth went 12 for 16 on kills, while junior Riley Homer added another 11. Villanova had four women with more than eight kills in this game, and it has seen a lot of consistency from players like Booth and junior Madeline Barber. 

The second game was not as successful as Villanova wanted, with hardly any fans in attendance for Saturday’s game, due to Hoops Mania.

“It was a bizarre empty night here,” Coach Steinbach said. “We had a few parents and that was it. It was a very different feel in here than Friday.”

Campos did not have as good of a night placing the ball as she did the night before, so it made it hard for players to take good swings and get good chances. 

“She didn’t have her best night,” Steinbach said. “But, I thought we still needed her on the floor, because of what she was doing running around.” 

Campos still had 36 assists and two aces, but it was a slower night for her. 

The big showing was from senior Kathleen Johnson, who had 17 kills on the night and a .46 attack percentage. She had three kills in the last six points Villanova won to win the second set. 

However, the story of the game was blown opportunities. Villanova had big leads in the first and third set and could not hold onto them in part due to multiple attack errors by Villanova’s offensive weapons. 

Villanova heads back out on the road this week, first to Washington D.C. on Oct. 5 to face a 3-11 Georgetown team and then to Indianapolis on Oct. 9 to face a 7-9 Butler team.