MATCH NOTES
 
INDIANAPOLIS – The Butler volleyball team will travel to Chicago on Wednesday for a midweek matchup against the DePaul Blue Demons. The weekend will send BU back to Indianapolis for home tilts vs. Georgetown and Villanova. Each match at home features a 6 PM opening serve.
 
Bulldog Bits                                                                                                                       
- Melody Davidson earned BIG EAST Freshman of the Week honors (10/2)
- Bri Lilly landed on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll (10/2)
- Bri Lilly and Melody Davidson rank 1-2 in the BIG EAST in blocks per set (1.54/1.25)
- Butler leads the BIG EAST in blocks per set (3.01) and total blocks (171)
- Lilly has recorded at least one service ace in five-straight matches
- Elizabeth LaBue has recorded 10+ digs in 10-straight matches
 
BIG EAST Standings
1)            Creighton 4-0, 12-4
2)            Marquette 3-1, 12-4
3)            St. John's 3-2, 14-6
4)            Villanova 3-2, 10-7
5)            Georgetown 3-2, 10-7
6)            Butler 2-2, 5-11
7)            Xavier 2-2, 4-11
8)            Providence 1-3, 7-8
9)            DePaul 1-3, 3-12
10)          Seton Hall 0-5, 5-13
 
Scouting DePaul                                                                                                              
The Blue Demons only have three wins this year, but they are coming off an impressive 3-1 victory against Georgetown. Emma Price is the driving force behind the DePaul attack with a team-high 121 kills. First-year head coach Marie Zidek will use two setters in Natalie Hayward and Katie Dolan. Defensively, the team leans on Isabelle Banez for digs (220 / 4.58 d/s) and Isabell De La Rosa for blocks (21).
 
Scouting Georgetown                                                                                  
The Hoyas won their first three conference matches of the season, but dropped their last two on the road at #20 Marquette and at DePaul. Junior outside hitter Iva Vujosevic leads the club with 211 kills. Setting up the action is Margo Pivonka with 602 assists on the season. The 'Dawgs will need to keep an eye on Symone Speech at the net. The 6-3 senior middle blocker is averaging 1.00 blocks per set.
 
Scouting Villanova                                                                                         
The Wildcats are led by freshman Clare Delaplane and her team-high 164 kills. Other weapons up front for Nova include Mallory Potts, Amanda Pedersen-Henry and Allie Olsonoski. Setter Emma Decker spreads the ball around the court to average 9.60 assists per set. Defensively, Regan Lough leads the team and the conference in digs per set (5.52). The Wildcats also lead the conference in digs per set (17.92) as a team.
 
All-Time Series                                                                                               
Butler leads the all-time series against all three opponents they face this week. The Bulldogs are 17-8 against DePaul, 10-1 vs. Georgetown and 9-2 against Villanova.  Each match against DePaul last season went down as a 3-0 win for BU. The Georgetown series was much different with a split. Each team won on their home court in five sets. The Villanova series was also a split with Nova winning 3-0 at their place and Butler returning the favor with a 3-2 win at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
 
Melody Davidson Tabbed BIG EAST Freshman of The Week       
The Bulldogs went 1-1 over the weekend after taking No. 10 Creighton to five sets and sweeping Providence both at home. Davidson averaged .444 hitting over the two matches, which was third-best in the league, along with 2.69 points per set. She also tallied 16 kills for 2.00 per set, and her 10 total blocks were best for a rookie and tied for second-most overall in the BIG EAST over the weekend.
 
Lilly Continues To Climb BU Record Book                                             
Bri Lilly is now tied with Chris DeWell (82-85) for seventh place on the BU all-time top-ten list in career blocks (456). Lilly came up with 15 blocks last weekend in matches vs. #10 Creighton and Providence. Four more blocks on Wednesday against DePaul will slide Lilly into sixth place all-time.
 
All-Time Best Blocker                                                                                    
Bri Lilly became just the fourth player in BU history to collect 400 or more block assists in her career over the weekend. Lilly now has 403 block assists in her career, just 12 shy of the all-time school record.
 
Turn the Page, First eight vs. Last Eight                                 
Butler has played much better over their last eight matches than they did the in first eight. BU is 4-4 over their last eight games with all four setbacks coming in five sets. The 'Dawgs went 1-7 over the first eight games of the year winning just four sets. The biggest area of emphasis for the turnaround is team defense. BU drastically improved their numbers in the digs (324 / 486) and blocks (67 / 104.5).
 
Klitzing Comes Alive                                                                                      
Rachel Klitzing has recorded 18 kills and 13 blocks over Butler's last three matches. She only had three kills and four blocks over her first seven games of the year.
 
Ravenell Just Misses Triple Double                                                         
Natalie Ravenell just missed a triple-double in the five-set match vs. #10 Creighton last week. Ravenell recorded 10 kills, nine digs and a career-high nine blocks.
 
Up Next                                                                                                                              
Butler will travel to Milwaukee next week to face the Marquette Golden Eagles. The mid-week matchup will take place on Wednesday, Oct. 10. First serve at Marquette is scheduled for 7 PM.