DePaul Returns to Win Column with 3-1 Victory Over Providence

Friday, October 29

Chicago, Ill.

7:00 P.M. CT

DePaul University

13-10,6-5Big East

Providence

15-9,3-8Big East

Providence

DePaul

DePaul Returns to Win Column with 3-1 Victory Over Providence

10/29/2021 10:07:00 PM | WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Brown and Nelson combined for 25 kills to lead Blue Demons attack

CHICAGO – The DePaul women's volleyball program dropped the first set In Friday night's match but responded in a big way to claim a 3-1 win over Providence at McGrath-Phillips Arena.

The Blue Demons returned to the win column after dropping a pair of matches last week and improve to 13-10 on the season and 6-5 in BIG EAST action.

Set scores of the match were 21-25, 25-10, 25-19, 25-17.

Bailey Nelson and Donna Brown led the way for the Blue Demons offensive attack combining for 25 kills. Nelson put down a match-high 13 kills on 24 error-less swings to hit .542 on the night while Brown hit .526 from the middle with 12 kills and just two errors. The duo combined for 12 block assists as the Blue Demons out-matched Providence at the net 10-4.

Right side Emma Price terminated nine balls to hit .500 and is just six kills away from 1,000 in her career.

Rachel Krasowski cleaned up in the back row with a match-high 16 digs while Hanna Karl added 13 of her own to go along with three service aces.

Setters Molly Murrihy and Phoenix Lee added 27 and 20 assists, respectively.

Providence was led by 10 kills from middle blocker Sasha Rudich.

How it Happened:

Set One: DePaul ran out to a 7-2 lead in the first frame before the Friars responded with a 4-0 run to come within a point. A Karl and Brown block pushed the score to 16-13 in favor of the Blue Demons. After Jill Pressly put down her third kill of the match to make it an 18-16 DePaul lead, the Friars won nine of the next 12 points to take the first set 25-21.

Set Two: With Donna Brown behind the service line, the Blue Demons used a 7-0 run to go up 12-5 early in the second set. Consecutive Pressly kills followed by a Blue Demon block and Nelson kill put the Blue Demons up 20-9. A Lee service ace put the exclamation mark on a dominant set as DePaul evened the match with a 25-10 set two victory.

Set Three: The Friars took a 13-11 advantage in the third before the Blue Demons took advantage of a pair of Karl aces to take a 19-15 advantage. Nelson and Brown combined for yet another block before Brown and Pressly put away a kill apiece to put the Blue Demons up 24-16. Providence staved off a trio of set points before Nelson put away the set from the right side to give DePaul a 2-1 lead.

Set Four: Much like the second set, DePaul utilized a 7-0 run with Karl serving to run out to a 12-5 advantage in set four. Terminations from Price and Allison Dennemann maintained a 16-9 lead halfway through the fourth. Karl's eighth kill of the evening widened the margin to nine at 23-14 before the Friars went on a 3-0 spurt to cut the deficit to six. A Friars service error and Price's ninth kill of the evening handed DePaul the 3-1 victory.

From Head Coach Marie Zidek: "Great team win. A lot of our role players had to come in and be game changers for us in order to win that match. Sasha, Dennemann, Phoenix, and Mireya all made key contributions. Honestly, it's a function of how this group plays every day in practice. They go hard and are really starting to gel as a unit on and off the court. It's really fun to see."

Up Next: The Blue Demons welcome No. 24 Creighton to McGrath-Phillips Arena for a 6 p.m. matchup on Saturday, October 30. The match will serve as DePaul's Dig Pink match in support of Breast Cancer research. The Bluejays are 9-2 in conference play and 21-3 overall and are coming off a 3-1 sweep of Marquette on Friday night. The match will be streamed live on FloSports.

For all of the latest on DePaul Women's Volleyball, stay tuned to depaulbluedemons.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.