Friday, October 15
Chicago, Ill.
7:00 P.M. CT
DePaul University
vs
Seton Hall
DePaul Hosts Seton Hall, St. John’s on Alumni and Family Weekend
10/14/2021 4:31:00 PM | WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Blue Demons host Pirates on Friday at 7 p.m., Red Storm on Saturday at 6 p.m.
CHICAGO – The DePaul women's volleyball program is back home at McGrath-Phillips Arena on Friday and Saturday for a pair of BIG EAST contests as DePaul University celebrates Alumni and Family weekend.
The Blue Demons welcome the Seton Hall Pirates to Lincoln Park on Friday, October 15 with first serve set for 7 p.m. A day later DePaul is set to meet the St. John's Red Storm at 6 p.m. Both matches will be streamed live on FloSports.
Demon Doings: DePaul is coming off a 1-1 weekend that saw the Blue Demons fall to No. 19 Creighton before picking up a sweep over Providence. After three weeks of conference action, DePaul is 3-3 and sits in the middle of the pack alongside St. John's and Butler. The Blue Demons are 10-8 overall.
Sophomore outside hitter Jill Pressly leads the attack for DePaul with 4.00 kills per set in BIG EAST play which ranks third in the league. Graduate student Emma Price brings fire power to the right side with 2.32 kills per set. Donna Brown has been extremely efficient on both sides of the net with a .313 attack efficiency to go along with 55 blocks on the season. Libero Rachel Krasowski leads the squad with 5.23 digs per set which ranks third in the BIG EAST and 17th in the nation.
The Blue Demons generate a ton of opportunities for kills, ranking fifth in Division I in attacks per set at 39.31. DePaul is just 1-4 in matches at McGrath-Phillips Arena in the 2021 fall season and will look to improve with two opportunities on Friday and Saturday.
Scouting the Competition:
Seton Hall – The Pirates enter the fourth weekend of BIG EAST play with a 2-4 record in conference action and 10-10 mark overall. Last weekend, Seton Hall fell to Xavier in five sets before sweeping Butler for the weekend split. The Pirates boast four attackers averaging two or more kills per set led by sophomore outside hitter Peri Lucas on the outside with 2.77 kills per set. Libero Anna Holland leads the Pirates defense with 4.28 digs per set. Seton Hall is led by Allison Yaeger in her 10thseason as head coach.
St. John's – The Red Storm enter weekend action with a 12-8 overall record and 3-3 mark in league play. St. John's handed then-No. 16 Creighton its lone conference defeat of the season on Friday, Oct. 1 with a 3-1 victory. Last weekend, Butler swept the Red Storm before St. John's responded with a 3-1 win over Xavier. Senior right side Rachele Rastelli has led the way for SJU averaging 4.30 kills per set to lead the BIG EAST. Freshman outside Giorgia Walther has aided the attack with 2.62 kills per set. Libero Sheena Yoshioka has totaled a team-high 200 digs thus far in the 2021 campaign. St. John's Head Coach Joanne Persico is in her 28th season leading the program in Queens.
Series Stuff: Seton Hall holds the all-time series lead over DePaul 19-3. The Blue Demons have won two in a row in the series after picking up victories in both matches in 2019. The Red Storm have an 18-6 advantage over the Blue Demons and have won the last five meetings. DePaul's last victory in the series came on September 22, 2017, in a five-set thriller at McGrath-Phillips Arena.
From Head Coach Marie Zidek: "What a great weekend we have in store that starts a little mini-season with grand post season implications. As we reminded the team in August, October is month 3 of season, which for most players gets long and energy gets a little harder to come by due to school heating up, so you want to be in position to play meaningful matches that allow you to keep motivation high so you can continue to reach for higher gears in your game. This weekend is the definition of meaningful matches. We sit at 3-3 chasing the 4-2 and eventually the 5-1 groups. Two wins this weekend puts us ahead at 5-3 and in the driver's seat to chase that top grouping. There are no easy matches in BIG EAST play. Seton Hall travels to us riding high from a 3-0 sweep of Butler. They are led by Chicago native and Whitney Young grad, Perri Lucas, who no doubt will want to make her Chicago debut one to remember. We will have to dig to transition exceptionally well and serve strong to keep her attacking possibilities to a minimum. On Saturday, we face St. John's who are led by 28-year Head Coach Jojo Persico who boasts one of the hottest arms in conference, Rachele Rastelli. St. John's is coming off a weekend where they were able to out attack Creighton to hand them their lone loss in conference, and they were able to do so with a new line up. St. John's roster is riddled with injury, so we will have to stay very adaptable to their newer players. It will be a battle to see how well we can slow down Rastelli and transition attack right back. This group needs to learn how to play loose and excitable at home as we do on the road, so this weekend brings two perfect opportunities with the first sniff of post season implications written all over them."
Up Next: DePaul will head into the back half of BIG EAST play with a trip to Marquette on Wednesday, Oct. 20 for a 12 p.m. match. Following the matchup with the Golden Eagles, the Blue Demons will head to Storrs, Conn. for a meeting with Connecticut on Sunday, Oct. 24 at 1 p.m.
The Blue Demons welcome the Seton Hall Pirates to Lincoln Park on Friday, October 15 with first serve set for 7 p.m. A day later DePaul is set to meet the St. John's Red Storm at 6 p.m. Both matches will be streamed live on FloSports.
Demon Doings: DePaul is coming off a 1-1 weekend that saw the Blue Demons fall to No. 19 Creighton before picking up a sweep over Providence. After three weeks of conference action, DePaul is 3-3 and sits in the middle of the pack alongside St. John's and Butler. The Blue Demons are 10-8 overall.
Sophomore outside hitter Jill Pressly leads the attack for DePaul with 4.00 kills per set in BIG EAST play which ranks third in the league. Graduate student Emma Price brings fire power to the right side with 2.32 kills per set. Donna Brown has been extremely efficient on both sides of the net with a .313 attack efficiency to go along with 55 blocks on the season. Libero Rachel Krasowski leads the squad with 5.23 digs per set which ranks third in the BIG EAST and 17th in the nation.
The Blue Demons generate a ton of opportunities for kills, ranking fifth in Division I in attacks per set at 39.31. DePaul is just 1-4 in matches at McGrath-Phillips Arena in the 2021 fall season and will look to improve with two opportunities on Friday and Saturday.
Scouting the Competition:
Seton Hall – The Pirates enter the fourth weekend of BIG EAST play with a 2-4 record in conference action and 10-10 mark overall. Last weekend, Seton Hall fell to Xavier in five sets before sweeping Butler for the weekend split. The Pirates boast four attackers averaging two or more kills per set led by sophomore outside hitter Peri Lucas on the outside with 2.77 kills per set. Libero Anna Holland leads the Pirates defense with 4.28 digs per set. Seton Hall is led by Allison Yaeger in her 10thseason as head coach.
St. John's – The Red Storm enter weekend action with a 12-8 overall record and 3-3 mark in league play. St. John's handed then-No. 16 Creighton its lone conference defeat of the season on Friday, Oct. 1 with a 3-1 victory. Last weekend, Butler swept the Red Storm before St. John's responded with a 3-1 win over Xavier. Senior right side Rachele Rastelli has led the way for SJU averaging 4.30 kills per set to lead the BIG EAST. Freshman outside Giorgia Walther has aided the attack with 2.62 kills per set. Libero Sheena Yoshioka has totaled a team-high 200 digs thus far in the 2021 campaign. St. John's Head Coach Joanne Persico is in her 28th season leading the program in Queens.
Series Stuff: Seton Hall holds the all-time series lead over DePaul 19-3. The Blue Demons have won two in a row in the series after picking up victories in both matches in 2019. The Red Storm have an 18-6 advantage over the Blue Demons and have won the last five meetings. DePaul's last victory in the series came on September 22, 2017, in a five-set thriller at McGrath-Phillips Arena.
From Head Coach Marie Zidek: "What a great weekend we have in store that starts a little mini-season with grand post season implications. As we reminded the team in August, October is month 3 of season, which for most players gets long and energy gets a little harder to come by due to school heating up, so you want to be in position to play meaningful matches that allow you to keep motivation high so you can continue to reach for higher gears in your game. This weekend is the definition of meaningful matches. We sit at 3-3 chasing the 4-2 and eventually the 5-1 groups. Two wins this weekend puts us ahead at 5-3 and in the driver's seat to chase that top grouping. There are no easy matches in BIG EAST play. Seton Hall travels to us riding high from a 3-0 sweep of Butler. They are led by Chicago native and Whitney Young grad, Perri Lucas, who no doubt will want to make her Chicago debut one to remember. We will have to dig to transition exceptionally well and serve strong to keep her attacking possibilities to a minimum. On Saturday, we face St. John's who are led by 28-year Head Coach Jojo Persico who boasts one of the hottest arms in conference, Rachele Rastelli. St. John's is coming off a weekend where they were able to out attack Creighton to hand them their lone loss in conference, and they were able to do so with a new line up. St. John's roster is riddled with injury, so we will have to stay very adaptable to their newer players. It will be a battle to see how well we can slow down Rastelli and transition attack right back. This group needs to learn how to play loose and excitable at home as we do on the road, so this weekend brings two perfect opportunities with the first sniff of post season implications written all over them."
Up Next: DePaul will head into the back half of BIG EAST play with a trip to Marquette on Wednesday, Oct. 20 for a 12 p.m. match. Following the matchup with the Golden Eagles, the Blue Demons will head to Storrs, Conn. for a meeting with Connecticut on Sunday, Oct. 24 at 1 p.m.
Players Mentioned
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RS
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