Friday Video | | Saturday Video | Live Stats

INDIANAPOLIS – Butler and DePaul will meet at McGrath-Phillips Arena this weekend to signal the start of BIG EAST competition for the Bulldogs. Friday's match will start at start at 4 PM and Saturday's tilt will feature a 3 PM opening serve.
 
Scouting DePaul
The Blue Demons are 1-3 overall with all four matches coming against BIG EAST foes. They were swept in each match at Marquette and most recently split a pair of five-set matches at home vs. Xavier. Phoenix Lee and Molly Murrihy will split reps at the setter position this weekend. Each player had 85 assists early on in the spring 2021 campaign. Emma Price, Bailey Nelson, Avarie Evans-Allen and Jill Pressley are the top weapons offensively for head coach Marie Zidek. The Blue Demons are led by Donna Brown and Rachel Krasowski defensively. Brown is averaging 1.19 blocks per set and Krasowski is a talented freshman with a team-high 54 digs.
 
Last Match vs. the Blue Demons
Butler swept DePaul in 2019, but each match went a full five sets. In Chicago, Butler lost the first two sets, but would charge back to win three-straight and claim the victory. Melody Davidson impacted the action with 13 kills and six blocks in a match that included 25 ties and 12 lead changes. BU hit .440 in the fourth to push it to a fifth and stayed hot in the finale by posting a .412 attack percentage.
 
All-Time Series vs. DePaul
After the sweep in 2019, Butler took a 20-9 lead over DePaul in the all-time series. Butler joined the North Star Conference in 1983 and would face DePaul for the first time that season. They won 3-2 in the first-ever meeting and would become conference rivals the following season. Since joining the BIG EAST in 2013, Butler is 12-2 vs. DePaul. Each setback came in five sets. Butler has also won four of those matchups in five.
 
BIG EAST Schedule
Volleyball will be played divisionally this spring with five teams in the East (Connecticut, Providence, St. John's, Seton Hall and Villanova) and five teams in the Midwest (Butler, Creighton, DePaul, Marquette and Xavier). League play started on Friday, Feb. 19. Each team is scheduled to play divisional opponents twice, with both games scheduled at one location on the same weekend.
 
Double-Double Tracker
Madison Friebel (4)
- 30 Assists, 14 Digs vs. Valpo (1/29)
- 55 Assists, 19 Digs at Loyola (1/29)
- 58 Assists, 10 Digs vs. Indiana State (2/4)
- 45 Assists, 10 Digs vs. Marian (2/23)

Brittany Robinson (2)
- 20 Kills, 14 Digs at Loyola (1/29)
- 19 Kills, 10 Digs at Bellarmine (1/31)
 
Last Match
Butler posted a 3-0 win over Marian on Tuesday night in a contest that featured 27 ties and seven lead changes (25-23, 25-22, 25-21). Brittany Robinson reached a double figure kill total in her fifth-straight match with a team-best 18 in the win. Robinson, Melody Davidson and Marisa Guisti each hit over .300 for BU. Davidson had nine kills and Guisti came in late with a season-high six. Amina Shackelford was a force at the net with eight kills and four blocks. Libero Jaymeson Kinley was the team dig leader with 19.
 
Up Next
Butler will host #24 Marquette next weekend. The Bulldogs will host the Golden Eagles Friday at 6 PM and move the start time up to 4 PM on Saturday. Each contest can be seen on the Butler Athletics YouTube page.