Nov. 9, 2008

Box Score

VILLANOVA, Pa. - The Villanova volleyball team concluded its final home match of the season on a high note with a 3-0 (25-13, 25-18, 25-23) sweep over Syracuse on Sunday afternoon in Jake Nevin Fieldhouse.

After honoring seniors Kaela Frizzell, Emily Brown, Dana Tartazky and Whitney Harrington before the match, the Wildcats (14-14, 5-7) used a an early lead in the first frame to set the ton for the remainder of the match.

"It feels good to get a win at home on senior day," head coach Josh Steinbach said. "I thought we served as well as we have all year and we won with a well-rounded effort from our team."

Villanova was led by Tartazky with a match-high 13 kills. Freshman Laurie McNamara tallied 10 kills and hit .389, while classmate Maggie Mergen hit nine kills with no errors for a .529 attack percentage.

Junior Chelsea Graman dished out 36 assists and had seven digs. Freshman Kim Maroon collected a match-high 22 digs.

The Wildcats combined to hit .257 as a team, while holding Syracuse to just a .085 attack percentage.

In set one, Villanova came out swinging as a 10-4 lead sent the Orange to a timeout. After the break, the Wildcats used a 7-2 run with kills from Harrington, McNamara and Petkovich to force the Orange into their final timeout at 17-6. Syracuse scored four unanswered points to take the score to 21-12 as Villanova regrouped in a timeout, but would not threaten the Wildcats as an ace from Maroon closed out the first frame, 25-13.

Leading 16-10 in the second set, Villanova saw the Orange score four consecutive points to pull within two points, but after a timeout, the Wildcats were back on track with a 4-1 run to stay in front, 20-15. Tartazky and Mergen hit back-to-back kills giving Villanova a 23-16 lead and Tartazky connected on a final kill to give the `Cats set two victory, 25-18.

A 5-5 tie in the third frame was pushed to a 15-10 Syracuse lead after three kills from the Orange as Villanova called a timeout. After the break, Petkovich hit two kills and an ace to close the gap to 17-14 as Syracuse regrouped with a timeout. McNamara connected on a kill out of the break with Villanova still trailing 18-15, but back-to-back kills from Mergen gave the Wildcats a 19-18 advantage. After an ace from the Orange put them back in front, 21-20, Villanova used its final timeout. Two kills from Tartazky out of the break put the Wildcats back in front, 23-21, and Maroon served an ace to set the `Cats into match point position. Two kills from Syracuse extended the match, but Tartazky connected on a final kill, giving Villanova a 25-23 victory.

The Wildcats conclude the BIG EAST regular season with a final road trip. Villanova will face Georgetown on Friday, Nov. 14 at 8:00 p.m. and take on USF on Sunday, Nov. 16 at 2:00 p.m.