VILLANOVA, Pa. – The Villanova volleyball team picked up a midweek win at the Palestra on Wednesday night, outlasting the Penn Quakers through five sets (23-25, 25-17, 25-18, 21-25, 15-9).
Skylar Gerhardt paced Villanova (5-2) with 16 kills, while Riley Homer totaled a season-high 11 kills and Kiera Booth added 10 terminations and five blocks. Elizabeth Feczko led all players with 20 digs and Andrea Campos tallied a double-double with 41 assists and 12 digs. Marly Smith and Dani Ortiz both put up career highs in the match, with Smith totaling four kills and Ortiz contributing a pair of aces.
"It's nice to get a win when we didn't play our best match," head coach Josh Steinbach said. "I was really impressed with Marly's performance tonight, it's great to get another freshman going for us."
The Quakers went on a 7-0 scoring run to establish an advantage in the opening frame, leading by as many as eight points before Villanova brought it back within two thanks to four service aces in five points. The 'Cats got it back to a tie at 20-20, but Pennsylvania took five of the next eight points to deliver a first set victory.
It was a much stronger start to the second period for VU, hopping out to a 14-5 lead after runs of 5-0, 3-0 and 8-1. Despite Penn stringing together some points at the end of the set, the Wildcats still picked up a 25-17 W to tie the match up at one apiece.
The third stanza was hotly contested as it featured nine ties and three lead changes, the last coming when Villanova broke away with a 4-0 run after the media timeout. Gerhardt put up six terminations in the third alone, powering the 'Cats to a 25-18 victory.
Penn took the lead to begin the fourth set, getting out to a 15-10 advantage before the media timeout. But the Wildcats battled right back, using three straight kills and a Gerhardt ace to even the frame at 17-17. Freshman hitter Smith reached a career high with a pair of kills in the fourth, but the Quakers used a 5-1 run to force a fifth.
The hosts took the opening point of that decisive frame, but a 5-0 Villanova run resulted in a Penn timeout. The teams switched sides after an 8-1 stretch for the Wildcats and despite the Quakers staving off multiple match points, VU ended it with a Smith kill to take the win.
With the victory, Villanova now leads the series 24-22 all-time, having won the last five meetings and securing a W at The Palestra for the first time since Sept. 18, 2015.
UP NEXT: The Wildcats head to The First State, taking part in the Delaware Tournament this weekend in Newark with matchups against the Blue Hens on Friday and Rider on Saturday.
