Villanova went 1-1 on the road against Providence and UConn in its final week of regular season play. With an 8-10 conference record, the Wildcats earned the No. 6 seed in the Big East tournament.
Villanova started its weekend at Providence, where it defeated the Friars in a four set match (25-20, 20-25, 25 – 19, 25 – 19). It asserted its dominance in Alumni Hall to improve its all-time record against Providence to 27-21.
Sophomore outside hitter Skylar Gerhardt led the team with 18 kills Friday night. Not far behind were freshman Abby Harrell and senior Kiera Booth, with 12 kills each. Junior Elizabeth Feczko and sophomore Faith Tyson matched each other’s ace count at two, while seniors Madeline Barber and Booth both had two and senior libero Taryn Whittingham had 19 digs. Gerhardt and Harrell each contributed eight.
Senior setter Andrea Campos had a stellar performance against Providence to conclude her collegiate career. Starting the night with three aces and three blocks, Campos also added on 44 assists for the night. This now puts Campos as the ninth Wildcat all time to reach 2,000 assists for her career at Villanova.
“Andrea’s been a great player for us over her career,” head coach Josh Steinbach said. “We really had a great season this year and so we’re really happy for her that we can get recognition for something like that.”
On Saturday, Nov. 18, the ‘Cats lost to UConn, which stood last in the Big East with a conference record of 2-15 prior to defeating the Wildcats. Villanova lost, 2-3 (22 – 25, 31 – 29, 23 – 25, 25 – 18, 9 – 15). In the match, Harrell had 18 kills while Booth and Gerhardt gave the team 13 and 14, respectively. Feczko served three aces across the two-and half-hour match, and Booth committed four blocks against the Huskies. Barber also had three blocks on the night.
Wittingham had another big match with 17 digs, while Campos contributed with 48 assists against the Huskies for a weekend total of 92 across the two games.
Ending the regular season, Villanova will now move into the postseason play.
“This team is a special group of people that we like being around,” Steinbach said. “We hope to win a little more so we can spend a couple more days together.”
On Wednesday, Nov. 22, the team is slated to play the No. 3 St. John’s in the first round of the Big East Tournament. If the ‘Cats win, they will spend Thanksgiving in Milwaukee to compete in the semi-finals of the tournament, which are set to take place on Friday, Nov. 24.
