MATCH NOTES (PDF)
 
INDIANAPOLIS – A huge BIG EAST weekend is ahead of the Butler volleyball team as the Bulldogs travel to Queens and South Orange for contests at St. John's and Seton Hall. St. John's, Butler and Seton Hall are all side-by-side in the BIG EAST standings. The new 2022 format will include six teams for the conference tournament and this weekend's results will certainly impact the field.
 
Bulldog Bits
- Destiny Cherry recorded a career-high 17 kills in the victory over DePaul while hitting at a .438 clip.
- Cora Taylor came up with a double-double in Butler's last match with 53 assists and 14 digs.
- Taylor tied her career-high kill total with five and added a career-best four blocks.
- Taylor ranks fifth in the BIG EAST in assists per set (9.40).
- Mariah Grunze had a double-double vs. DePaul with 16 kills and a career-high 20 digs.
- Grunze ranks third in the conference in attacks per set (10.54).
- Amina Shackelford had 15 kills and career-high 16 digs vs. the Blue Demons.
- Grace Boggess tied her season-high block total with six vs. DePaul.
- Butler is second in the conference in both blocks per set (2.30) and total blocks (202).
- Marisa Guisti ranks second in blocks per set (1.07).
- Jaymeson Kinley leads the BIG EAST in digs per set (5.41) and ranks 11th in the NCAA.
- Kinley is the only Bulldog to play in all 88 sets this season. She ranks 17th in the NCAA in total digs (476).
- Maddie Renn posted a season-high 19 digs vs. the Blue Demons.
- Rylie Tam led BU with two service aces on Sunday.
- Butler leads the BIG EAST in team attacks per set (37.28) and ranks 20th in the NCAA.
 
BIG EAST Standings
Creighton 12-0, 20-3
Marquette 11-1, 20-2
Xavier 8-4, 15-7
UConn 7-5, 13-10
St. John's 7-6, 16-10
Butler 6-6, 12-12
Seton Hall 5-8, 14-11
Providence 3-9, 11-13
DePaul 3-9, 7-17
Villanova 3-9, 7-17
Georgetown 2-10, 4-19
 
SCOUTING ST. JOHN'S: The Red Storm lost 3-1 at Seton Hall on Wednesday night to move their overall record to 16-10. At 7-6 in BIG EAST action, the Johnnies are still in play for a postseason tournament berth, but the setback to Seton Hall keeps the Pirates alive. Head Coach Joanne Persico has a talented roster that includes outside hitters Rachele Rastelli and Giorgia Walther. That duo ranks 2-3 in the conference in kills per set. Rastelli is a graduate that leads the league in points and Walther is a sophomore that ranks second.
 
St. John's is 10-3 at home this season. Their setbacks came to #18 Marquette (3-0), Xavier (3-2) and #15 Creighton (3-0).
 
ST. JOHN'S AT BUTLER (OCT. 16): St. John's swept Butler (25-22, 25-15, 25-21) at Hinkle Fieldhouse in the first meeting. They hit .275 as a team and ended the night with seven service aces. Eleonora Tosi led STJ with 10 kills and Amina Shackelford matched that effort with 10 for BU.
 
Shackelford led Butler in kills (10) and digs (8) in the first meeting. Cora Taylor had 29 assists and Megan Sheridan added nine kills.
 
SCOUTING SETON HALL: The Pirates snapped a seven match losing streak on Wednesday night by defeating St. John's 3-1 (25-22, 26-24, 22-25, 26-24). Seton Hall opened the conference schedule winning four of their first five matchups. Quality wins came against UConn (3-2) and DePaul (3-2). The recent victory over St. John's is a major boost to the program. Before Wednesday night, from Oct. 8-29, SHU only won two sets.
 
Jenna Walsh is the top target for the Seton Hall attack. She ranks seventh in the BIG EAST in kills per set (3.26). Asli Subasili ranks fourth in the league in service aces.
 
SETON HALL AT BUTLER (OCT. 14): Butler recorded their 10th win of the season against Seton Hall in the first meeting (25-17, 16-25, 25-16, 25-19). Amina Shackelford, Mariah Grunze and Megan Sheridan were the driving force behind the attack. That trio combined for 33 kills and took 71 percent of the swings for the Bulldogs. Cora Taylor set the table with a match-high 36 assists and Jaymeson Kinley led BU with 23 digs.
 
Brooklyne Darby and Cora Taylor each had two aces vs. the Pirates. BU had six total with Jaymeson Kinley and Maddie Renn adding one each.
 
BIG EAST LEADER: Jaymeson Kinley leads the BIG EAST Conference and ranks 11th in the NCAA in digs per set (5.41).
 
Kinley's 42 digs at Xavier were the second most in a single match by a Butler player in program history (45 by Jessica Taylor vs. UIC, Sept. 12, 1989).
 
TAYLOR TIME: Cora Taylor recorded her 10th double-double of the season against DePaul with a career-high 53 assists to go along with 14 digs. The true freshman had four-straight games with a double-double from Oct. 2-14 and keeps the opponent guessing with at least three kills in every BIG EAST contest.
 
Taylor has a block in 10-straight matches moving her season total to 34.
 
SHACKELFORD MAKES BIG EAST WEEKLY HONOR ROLL: In a 1-1 week, Shackelford contributed 27 kills and nine blocks (8 BA, 1 BS). This week, she ranked fifth in the BIG EAST for blocks (1.12) and ninth in points (4.00).
 
Shackelford was great last weekend in matches vs. Marquette and DePaul. She had 12 kills and 12 digs vs. the Golden Eagles and 15 kills to go along with 16 digs vs. the Blue Demons. Those are the first two double-double performances of her career.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES: Butler leads the all-time series over both St. John's and Seton Hall 11-6.  The Bulldogs swept St. John's a year ago, but split with Seton Hall.
 
Last year, Butler won 3-0 at Seton Hall on Oct. 23 and 3-1 at St. John's the next day.
 
CHERRY ON TOP: Destiny Cherry played a huge role in Butler's five-win set over DePaul with a career-high 19.5 points!
 
Over her last eight matches, Cherry has recorded 61 kills and 28 blocks! She was responsible for seven kills and three blocks over her first eight matches.
 
UP NEXT: The Bulldogs will play at Villanova next Saturday, Nov. 12 at 7 PM. The following day they will face the Georgetown Hoyas at 1 PM.
 
Butler defeated Georgetown and Villanova 3-1 at Hinkle Fieldhouse. The Hoyas won the third set to avoid the sweep and the Wildcats won the second.