INDIANAPOLIS – The Bulldogs won the first, third and fourth set on Sunday to claim a 3-1 victory over the Villanova Wildcats. With the win, Butler improves to 9-9 on the year with a 3-3 mark against conference foes.
 
STAT OF THE MATCH: Butler hit .342 in set three and .300 in set four to earn their third conference win of the season.
 
SET 1: Butler 25-23
There were 11 ties and five lead changes in the first set as the two evenly matched teams battled through the opening stages of action. Destiny Cherry pulled Butler even with Nova at 22-22 and her third kill of the opener would give Butler a slim 25-23 victory.

SET 2: Villanova 25-19
The Wildcats ended the second set with an 8-2 scoring run to avoid the sweep on Sunday. Set two was tied at 17-17, but Nova would ride the hot hand of Taryn Whittingham to pull out the win. Whittingham's serve was interrupted by a Butler timeout at 22-18. She returned to the court after the stoppage to get Villanova to set point and moments later a kill from Madeline Barber pushed the scoreboard to 25-19.

SET 3: Butler 26-24
The Bulldogs only had five errors on 38 swings in the third set to hit .342. Mariah Grunze had a team-best six kills to lead the attack. Villanova's answer was going to Rose Crist who delivered seven kills in just 11 attempts. With the action tied up at 24-24, Amina Shackelford would come up clutch with a kill to put BU in front and Marisa Guisti would finish off the 'Cats with her second kill of the set allowing Butler to take momentum into the fourth set.

SET 4: Butler 25-17
The fourth set was never in question as Butler jumped out to a 12-4 lead. Shackelford had six kills in 10 attempts and Grunze would chip in with four. BU doubled Villanova up at 24-12 and Autumn Flowers would check into the match to finish off the Wildcats with a kill.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Mariah Grunze had a double-double with a match-high 17 kills to go with 15 digs.
- Cora Taylor was in the box score with a double-double as well with 41 assists and 13 digs.
- Jaymeson Kinley gave Butler a team-best 21 digs.
- BU had six serve aces with Taylor and Jenna Splitt each posting two vs. Villanova.
- Amina Shackelford hit .324 with 16 kills on Sunday.
- Butler recorded nine total team blocks against the Wildcats

UP NEXT: Butler will host Seton Hall and St. John's next weekend in BIG EAST action. The Pirates will play at Hinkle Fieldhouse Friday at 6 PM while the Red Storm will visit Indy on Sunday for a 1 PM match.