DePaul University Athletics
DePaul University
Butler
Blue Demons Drop BIG EAST Opener to Butler Wednesday Night
9/23/2015 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
CHICAGO - The DePaul volleyball team won the first two sets of Wednesday night's match against Butler, but could not close out the match and dropped the BIG EAST opener, 3-2 (23-25, 19-25, 25-21, 25-17, 15-9). Tonight marked the first loss for the Blue Demons (11-2, 0-1 BIG EAST) since Aug. 28 versus Drake to start the season.
Colleen Smith produced a triple-double in the loss for DePaul. The setter closed the match with 46 assists, 10 kills and 10 digs.
Callie Huebener notched a double-double in Wednesday's match after tallying a team-high 12 digs and 11 kills.
On the attack, Brittany Maxwell led the Blue Demons in kills with 15 on 30 total attacks. Saige Gallop finished right behind Maxwell at 14 kills.
Caitlyn Coffey registered a team-best four total blocks and added six kills.
Butler's Mary Striedl ended the night with a match-high 27 kills on 47 attacks.
The start of BIG EAST play saw a tight contest between DePaul and Butler. In the first set, 14 ties and seven lead changes occurred in front of a loud McGrath-Phillips Arena. Butler took a late lead, 23-22, with a kill from Briana Lilly. DePaul head coach Nadia Edwards called a timeout to stop the Bulldog momentum. Out of the timeout, a kill by Maxwell tied the score at 23-all and sparked a 3-0 run to give the Blue Demons the first set, 25-23.
DePaul grabbed an early lead of four in the second frame, but Butler came back to tie it, 6-6. Coffey broke the tie with a kill for DePaul after a set from Smith and the Blue Demons never surrendered the lead after that kill. Throughout the set, DePaul built its lead to six on two separate occasions, including set point after a kill by Huebener that gave the Blue Demons a 2-0 advantage in the match.
A long break between sets two and three benefitted the Bulldogs after falling in the first two sets. Butler built an early advantage thanks to a 5-0 run in the third set to jump out to a 12-5 advantage. DePaul slowly crawled back into the match and came within two of the Bulldogs, 23-21. The comeback was cut short after back-to-back Butler kills earned them the set, 25-21.
The Bulldogs rode the third-set momentum into the fourth frame and took a 17-9 lead. DePaul battled back to set the score at 19-15 and forced a Butler timeout. After the timeout, Butler scored the next three points and eventually claimed the fourth frame, 25-17.
In the fifth set, both sides traded points early before Butler jumped to an 11-4 lead. The Blue Demons capitalized on two Butler errors and a Huebener kill to bring the score to 12-7. Butler used a kill by Briana Lilly to earn a chance at match point and solidified the win off a DePaul error to close the match.
DePaul continues its BIG EAST slate against Marquette on Saturday, Sept. 26 at 6 p.m. CT. The Blue Demons return home to McGrath-Phillips arena against Xavier next Wednesday, Sept. 30 at 7 p.m. CT.
