Oct. 31, 2008

VILLANOVA, Pa. - The Villanova volleyball team looks to continue to build on two consecutive conference wins as it visits St. John's and Connecticut this weekend. The Wildcats play at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday and 2:00 p.m. on Sunday.

Villanova enters the weekend with a 13-11 overall record and a 4-4 conference mark. Last time out, the Wildcats defeated Notre Dame, 3-2, and handed DePaul a 3-1 loss as well. Senior Dana Tartazky is leading the squad with 3.72 kills per set and ranks among the top 10 in the conference. Junior Chelsea Graman is dishing out 10.68 assists per contest, while freshman Kim Maroon is leading the `Cats with 3.88 digs per set.

"It is going to be a challenging weekend on the road for us," head coach Josh Steinbach said. "We want to build on our success from last weekend and come home with some wins. It has been a good week of practice for us, so we are ready to get on the court and play hard."

St. John's owns a 16-7 overall record and leads the BIG EAST with a 7-1 mark. Valeria Kovaleva leads the Red Storm with 3.15 kills per set, while Wiolet Leszczynska is dishing out 11.57 assists per contest to lead the conference. St. John's is riding a five-match win streak and completed a 3-0 rout of West Virginia and Pittsburgh last weekend. Villanova owns a 9-7 series record over the Red Storm, but fell, 3-0 last season.

Connecticut is also 16-7 overall and 5-3 in the conference. Last weekend, the Huskies won both of their matches with a 3-1 victory over Pittsburgh and West Virginia. Five-time BIG EAST Freshman of the Week, Annie Luhrsen leads the Huskies with 10.01 assists per set, while Chauntay Mickens leads the squad with 245 total kills. UConn owns the series record over Villanova, 16-14, but the Wildcats came away with a 3-2 victory last season.