DePaul Hosts First BIG EAST Weekend

Friday, September 28

McGrath-Phillips Arena

7:00 P.M. CT

DePaul University

Villanova

9/27/2018 10:09:00 AM | WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL

The Blue Demons head into their second weekend of BIG EAST play, their first at McGrath-Phillips.

CHICAGO - The Blue Demons are set to host their first weekend of BIG EAST play, which also marks their second weekend of conference contests in the 2018 season. DePaul will open the weekend on Friday in a match against Villanova (9-6, 2-1 BIG EAST) at 7:00 p.m. The following day, DPU will host a Saturday match against Georgetown (10-5, 3-0 BIG EAST) at 6:00 p.m. Play will take place at McGrath-Phillips Arena.

"Villanova is always a fun team to play," said head coach Marie Zidek. "Josh is a phenomenal recruiter and coach and every year, puts his players in positions to be successful.

"They also have a top libero with their team in the conference thus far, digging over 18 balls per set. To prepare for that, we have been running a lot of coverage and multiple ball-attacking drills so that we can make sure we are always getting in a position to kill the ball no matter how many rallies it takes."

After a standout performance from sophomore libero Isabelle Banez last weekend against Creighton and Providence, Zidek is ready to see what the Blue Demons can stir up against this weekend's competition.

"We match up really well with Villanova, as we currently have the second-best libero in the conference with regard to digs per set, Isabelle Banez," said Zidek. "We expect Friday night to be a fight between two evenly matched teams, and we expect to be in some long rallies with multiple opportunities to win through defense to transition."

With this being Zidek's first season as head coach of the Blue Demons, she finds common ground with Georgetown's new coaching staff and highlights the similarities between the two teams.

"Georgetown presents a different challenge but are in a similar boat to us," Zidek exclaimed. "They have a new coaching staff and a couple of new players that have made immediate contributions. Their outside, Iva Vujosevic, was an excellent addition to the team who already had one of the top middles in the conference, Simone Speech. That said, our addition Emma Price, and our middles, especially Isabell De La Rosa, can match them for the kill.

"I'm thrilled for the opportunity to go toe-to-toe with Toby's squad. They are playing spirited and exciting volleyball right now and it has forced everybody else to be better."

With this season revolving around different themes, a main one being moving the needle forward, Zidek finds ways to change it up and keep the team centered on improvement.

"All in all, this is an awesome BIG EAST Home-opening weekend. After losing a close match in five sets last weekend, the team has refocused and is making continued pushes to match consistent competitive systems play.

"Our main theme this week is 'doing the extra' in order to get the 'extra' result we want, which is a win. It should be a fun weekend battle against some great competition. I am proud of our team's ability to battle day in and day out."

Last Time Against Villanova

DePaul and Villanova last faced off in 2017 when Villanova swept the Blue Demons (25-20, 25-20, 25-16). Regardless of DePaul jumping out to 9-2 lead in the first set until the Wildcats tied the set at 13's and again at 16's. Back-to-back kills would close out the set for the Wildcats, giving them their first stanza. The teams would trade points for a majority of the second set and the DePaul would fall behind early in the third set for the Villanova sweep.

Scouting The Wildcats

The Wildcats currently sit at a record of 9-6 (2-1 BIG EAST) on the 2018 season and have hosted all three of their BIG EAST contests so far this season, with DePaul being their first conference road trip. Villanova defeated Seton Hall in four sets 3-1 (23-25, 25-21, 25-20, 25-23) in their conference home-opening match. Villanova fell to Georgetown in five sets at home 2-3 (25-22, 25-14, 23-25, 23-25, 14-16). Most recently, Villanova defeated St. John's in another five set battle 3-2 (25-23, 24-26, 25-22, 21-25, 15-12).

The Wildcats boast their freshman outside hitter Clare Delaplane who was just named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week for the second time this season. Delaplane tallied 36 kills and 21 digs last week, while also tallying her second career double-double in the 3-1 victory over Seton Hall. Delaplane had 12 digs and a season-high 22 kills with a .378 attack percentage against the Pirates. She averaged 4.00 kills per set. Against Georgetown she got 14 kills and was only one dig shy of recording her third game in a row with a double-double. She also had seven combined blocks against the Hoyas and Pirates.

Last Time Against Georgetown

DePaul dropped to Georgetown in four sets 3-1 (21-25, 25-19, 22-25, 17-25) in their last meeting of the 2017 season. In the match, Katie Dolan recorded a team-high 39 kills.

Scouting The Hoyas

The Hoyas are currently 10-5 (3-0 BIG EAST). Georgetown opened conference play versus St. John's and sealed the victory in five sets 3-2 (25-21, 17-25, 25-17, 20-25, 16-14). Georgetown then traveled to Villanova and won in another five-set battle 3-2 (22-25, 14-25, 25-23, 25-23, 16-14). Most recently, the Hoyas swept Seton Hall at home for their sixth-straight win 3-0 (25-21, 25-16, 25-18).

Georgetown returns senior middle blocker Symone Speech, who was recently named BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week after leading the Hoyas to a perfect 3-0 record at the Dig The District Invitational. Speech posted double-digit kills in two of the three matches, recording 15 kills against Alabama A&M and 13 kills against Loyola. She hit .449 (37-6-69) that weekend, including .400 (15-3-30) against Alabama A&M and .684 (13-0-19) against Loyola. Speech also had five digs and two service aces against AAMU while notching three blocks against both Morgan State and Loyola.

Live Coverage

For this weekend's matches, fans can watch the live feed for free through DePaul All-Access TV.

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