Villanova volleyball’s 8-0 hot streak to start the season came to an end last weekend at the South Dakota Classic. The Wildcats went 1-2 across the weekend, falling to South Dakota, 3-1, and Drake, 3-0, while defeating Wichita State, 3-2.
Villanova now has a 9-2 record heading into the Big East portion of its schedule. The early win streak marked its most successful start to the season since 2005.
Head coach Josh Steinbach said the team is undeterred after terminating the win streak and instead is using the weekend to expose areas for improvement against a challenging trifecta of opponents.
“At the end of the day, this is going to be a healthy weekend for us,” Steinbach said. “We’re still excited about our team as we are. We feel really good about where we are, and we’re excited about where we’re going.”
The weekend began with a four-set loss (19-25, 19-25, 25-22, 23-25) to host team South Dakota (8-4) on Thursday, Sept. 18.
Sophomore outside hitter Taylor Lewis notched a season-high 13 kills in the closely contested match. As a team, the Wildcats also recorded 71 digs, their highest of the season so far.
Villanova battled from behind for most of the match, bringing it to 23-23 in the final set. But South Dakota took care of the final two points to seal its first win of the Classic.
The Wildcats encountered more struggles as they were swept by Drake (4-7) on Friday (18-25, 21-25, 18-25). Sophomore middle blocker Campbell McKinnon led the Wildcats in the loss with a match-high 12 kills.
“The way [South Dakota] beat us shook us a little bit, and we were unsettled,” Steinbach said. “We came on Saturday and we didn’t look ourselves at all against Drake. They were in control the whole match.”
After suffering defeats in the first two competitions of the weekend, the Wildcats rallied to a five-set victory (25-20, 21-25, 20-25, 30-28, 15-13) over Wichita State (8-4).
“We spent a lot of time talking to each other, and suddenly, we came out and played what I thought was the best team of the weekend, Wichita State,” Steinbach said. “We won the [match] that I would want to win. We were able to show that we can rebound from something tough, and we’re going to have to deal with those things all season.”
In the win, the Wildcats recorded season highs in four statistical categories: kills, assists, digs and blocks.
Junior outside hitter Abby Harrell led the team with a double-double, tallying 21 kills and 18 digs. McKinnon finished the night with 16 terminations, six blocks and three aces.
Sophomore outside hitter Cat Young had a notable individual performance with a career-high 18 kills. Young notched the final kill of the night to send the Wildcats home with a victory.
“Cat Young has been fantastic for us all year long, and one of the reasons we’ve been so good,” Steinbach said.
The Wildcats will carry the momentum to open conference play with a trip to New York City. On Friday, Sept. 26, Villanova will take on St. John’s (4-9) at 7 p.m.
The team will now head to South Orange, NJ, to play Seton Hall (6-5) on Saturday, Sept. 27, at 5 p.m.
