MATCH NOTES
 
Live Stats at Seton Hall | BEDN at Seton Hall
 
Live Stats vs. St. John's | ESPN 3 at St. John's
 
INDIANAPOLIS – The last two games of the 2017 regular season will send Butler to Seton Hall and St. John's this weekend. The Bulldogs are currently in third place of the conference standings and will earn a berth into the conference tournament with a victory. Friday night's match at Seton Hall will stream on BEDN. Saturday's tilt at St. John's will steam on ESPN 3.
 
Bulldog Bits
- Butler will clinch a BIG EAST Tournament berth with a win this weekend
- BU leads the conference in opponent hitting percentage (.168)
- The Bulldogs lead the BIG EAST in total blocks (285) and blocks per set (2.69)
- Bri Lilly leads the BIG EAST in blocks per set (1.26)
- Lilly ranks second in the conference with a .383 attack percentage
- Makayla Ferguson notched a season-high 60 assists in the match vs. Creighton
- 60 assists for Ferguson tied her career-high total which was set vs. St. John's in 2014
- Ferguson averages 10.59 assists per set, the 3rd highest total in the BIG EAST
- Taylor Takeda ranks second in the conference in service aces per set (0.32)
- The Bulldogs have now reached at least 20 wins in four of their last five seasons
- Butler's highest win total in conference action was in 2014 when they went 12-6
- Ferguson ranks fourth all-time at Butler with 4,441 career assists
 
BIG EAST Standings
1) Creighton 15-1, 22-5
2) Marquette 14-3, 20-8
3) Butler 11-5, 21-7
4) Seton Hall 10-6, 16-13
5) Villanova 9-7 , 16-11
6) St. John's 7-9 , 15-16
7) Xavier 6-10, 11-19
8) Providence 5-11, 16-15
9) DePaul 2-14, 8-20
10) Georgetown 1-14, 7-20
 
Scouting Seton Hall
The Pirates are 16-13 overall with a 10-6 record against conference opponents. Abby Thelen is having a monster year with 403 kills, the fourth-highest total in the BIG EAST. Thelen is averaging 3.66 kills per set and owns a .233 attack percentage. The junior recorded 11 kills in the first meeting between the two teams. Caitlin Koska led SHU with 13. Seton Hall uses two setters in Sophia Coffey and Maggie Cvelbar. Coffey has 605 assists on the year, while Cvelbar comes in with 514. This duo combined for 31 assists in Butler's 3-0 win on Oct. 7.
 
About St. John's
The Red Storm head into the weekend with a 15-16 overall record that includes a 7-9 mark against conference opponents. Julia Cast is the focal point of the STJ attack with a team-high 447 kills. The next highest total belongs to Jordan McCalla with 230. Cast is averaging 4.10 kills per set, the second-highest total in the BIG EAST. She recorded 12 kills in the first meeting vs. Butler a total that tied for the team lead along with Kayley Wood. Erica DiMaulo is in charge of setting up the action. DiMaulo averages 10.5 assists per set and is solid defensively with 254 digs and 85 total blocks. She posted a double-double vs. Butler in October with 37 assists to go along with 21 digs. The team's dig leader is Amanda Sanabia (432). Danisha Moss leads the team in blocks (136). St. John's is one of the best blocking teams in the BIG EAST, yet BU won that battle in the first matchup 16.5 to 7.
 
All-Time Series
Seton Hall leads the all-time series against Butler 5-4. The Bulldogs hold the upper hand in the all-time series against St. John's 7-2.
 
Tournament Talk
Creighton went 2-0 last week to secure at least a share of the 2017 regular season title and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming tournament. Marquette became the second team to qualify for the four-team field as the Golden Eagles also went 2-0. Butler has remained in third place of the conference standings for the latter part of the league season. The Bulldogs need a win to clinch one of the two remaining tournament berths. Also left in the playoff mix are Seton Hall and Villanova. The Pirates are at 10-6 while the Wildcats are 9-7. Villanova holds a slight tie-breaker advantage over Seton Hall should they finish the season tied. Villanova also holds an advantage over Butler should they finish tied.
 
2017 BIG EAST Volleyball Championship Tournament
The semi-final matches are scheduled for November 24 on BEDN, with the championship game to follow the next day on FS2. All three games will be played at Marquette in the Al McGuire Center.
 
Wild Weekend
Butler suffered their first loss in eight matches against Creighton at home in Indianapolis. The Bulldogs and Jays went the full five sets, and the second set went to 38-36 in favor of Creighton. The fourth set also went into extras as the Bulldogs won that one 27-25. Creighton's 124 points in a match is tied for sixth-most in NCAA history for a five-set match since the move to 25-point sets in 2008.
 
Ferguson Joins Elite Company
Senior Makayla Ferguson tied her career-high assist total with 60 in the five-set match vs. Creighton on Nov. 12. The breakout performance moved her career assist total to 4,441. Ferguson currently ranks fourth all-time at Butler in career assists, but she is now just three assists away from third place all-time. Jenny Arentz notched 4,443 assists during her BU career which ranged from 1990-93.
 
Accuracy and Precision
The Bulldogs are hitting .249 with just two games left in the regular season. The school record for highest attack percentage in a single-season belongs to the 1985 team who hit .277. Coach Clark's 2013 team hit .260 which ranks second all-time. If BU stays at .249 they will rank third all-time.
 
RPI Rankings
Butler is ranked #56 in the latest NCAA RPI rankings. They are the third-highest ranked BIG EAST team behind both Creighton (9) and Marquette (30).
 
Commitment To Excellence
Freshman Natalie Ravenell and Senior Makayla Ferguson are the only two Bulldogs on the roster to play in all 106 sets this season.