Volleyball Falls To Villanova In BIG EAST Action, 3-1

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Providence College volleyball team fell to Villanova, 3-1, in BIG EAST action on Saturday, Oct. 15 at Alumni Hall in Providence, R.I.

FIRST SET HIGHLIGHTS: Providence took set one, 25-22.

After an early 9-9 tie, neither team was able to mount more than a two-point advantage in the middle stages of the match.
Providence held a 21-19 lead, forcing Villanova to call a late timeout. Out of the break, the Friars scored five of the next eight points to close the set.
Shaliyah Rhoden (Rowlett, Texas) paced the Friars offensively, notching five kills on nine attempts.
Brielle Mullally (Garden Grove, Calif.) and Sammie Ruggles (North Olmsted, Ohio) combined for 12 assists.

SECOND SET HIGHLIGHTS: Villanova won the set, 25-16.

Villanova led the set wire-to-wire.
The Friars found themselves down 8-3 to start the set, but rallied to close the Wildcat lead to as little as three (14-11).
The Providence push was not enough to overcome Villanova as they went on an 11-5 run to close the set.
The Friars had nine digs, led by Ruggles' three.
Mullally recorded a team-best seven assists, bringing her total to 14 in the match.

THIRD SET HIGHLIGHTS: Villanova won the third set 25-20 to take a 2-1 edge in the match.

The beginning stages of the third set included five ties, going point-for-point, before the Friars scored six of the next eight points to break the streak (12-8). Providence's spurt included back-to-back kills by Kayla Grant (Rowlett, Texas).
At the point of a 16-16 tie, the largest lead by either team was three and the set already included eight ties.
Villanova maintained control in the latter half of the set and finished off the third frame with a 25-20 victory.
Jiji Lykins (Coral Springs, Fla.) paced the Friar defense, collecting six digs.
Mullally and Sasha Rudich (Austin, Texas) each had two block assists.

FOURTH SET HIGHLIGHTS: Villanova claimed the match with a 25-16 win in the fourth set.

Villanova used a 6-2 run to take a 12-6 lead, forcing a Providence timeout.
Out of the break, the Friars scored four of the next five points, spearheaded by three kills by Grant, cutting the deficit to three (13-10).
The Wildcat lead ballooned again to as large as 11 for Villanova to take the set.
Grant led the Friars with four kills and two block assists.
Mullally matched Grant's four kills and contributed four assists.
Ruggles put up a team-best eight assists.

MATCH NOTES:

Brielle Mullally notched a double-double with 11 kills and 23 assists.
Two more Friars joined Mullally in double-digit kills. Emma Nelson (West Chester, Pa.) had 10 and Rhoden added a team-best 12 more.
Grant was a force in the front line, recording nine kills and four total blocks. The middle blocker hit a team-best .438.
Mackenzie Taylor (Holbrook, N.Y.) finished the night with three digs. The grad student is eight digs shy of moving into third place on the Friars' all-time career list for digs. Her current career total stands at 1,591 digs.

RECORDS:
Providence: 10-10 (2-6 BIG EAST)
Villanova: 6-14 (2-6 BIG EAST)

WHAT'S NEXT:
Providence will travel to Storrs, Conn. to match up against Connecticut on Wednesday, Oct. 19 at 7:00 p.m. before hosting the Butler Bulldogs at home in Alumni Hall on Saturday, Oct. 22 at 3:00 p.m.

- GO FRIARS! –

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Team Stats

Shaliyah Rhoden

Brielle Mullally

Emma Nelson

Kayla Grant

Players Mentioned

Kayla Grant

Jiji Lykins

Brielle Mullally

Emma Nelson

Shaliyah Rhoden

Sasha Rudich

Sammie Ruggles

Mackenzie Taylor