MATCH NOTES I WATCH BU VS VU I WATCH BU VS GU

INDIANAPOLIS - The Butler volleyball team will start their last homestand of the season. The Bulldogs will welcome Villanova on Friday, at 6 PM. followed by another match on Sunday against Georgetown with the first serve slated for 1 PM. 

Bulldog Bits
-Butler sits at eighth in the BIG EAST with a conference record of 4-8 and overall record of 10-13.
-The Bulldogs dropped both matches on the road in five sets last weekend at Seton Hall and St. John's.
-BU ranks fourth in three different categories including kills (12.81 per set), assists (12.00 per set), and digs (15.44 per set). 
-As a team, Butler holds the 13th best average in the country with 37.56 attacks per set.
-Butler sits at 11-8 all-time against Villanova. Despite only winning two of the last eight matches against the Wildcats, the Bulldogs most recently swept them earlier this season on the road. 
-The Bulldogs have also found success against Georgetown holding a 16-4 all-time record. After winning their last six matches though, Butler fell to the Hoyas 3-1 on the road this season. 
-In her 117th collegiate match, Jaymeson Kinley earned her first-ever double-double at Seton Hall last weekend tallying 16 digs and 10 assists.
-Kinley holds an average of 4.88 digs per set, which ranks second in the BIG EAST and 27th in the nation.
-Mariah Grunze tied her career-high of 21 kills against the Pirates last weekend. 
-Grunze holds the fifth best average in the conference matches this season with 3.36 kills per set.
-Cora Taylor totaled 88 assists, 24 digs and seven kills last week
-Taylor has paced the Butler offense while leading the BIG EAST with 10.23 assists per set
-Grace Boggess hit for over .400 in both matches last week combining for an average of .464
-Boggess collected a new career-high eight blocks against Seton Hall
-Elise Ward leads all BIG EAST freshman hitters with five double-doubles this season 
-Rylie Tam set a new career-high of four serving aces in a match against St. John's 

SCOUTING VILLANOVA: The Wildcats stand right in the middle of the pack at fifth in the BIG EAST with a conference record of 6-6 and an overall record of 15-9. Villanova flew out the gates in the non-conference schedule going 9-3 highlighted by a win over Santa Clara. However, their success would come to a halt at the start of the conference season going 1-3 that included a 3-0 sweep at home against Butler. The Wildcats have begun to turn their season around, winning five of their last eight games headlined in a four-set match where they handed St. John's just their second conference loss of the season. 

Villanova holds the third-best hitting percentage in the conference this season at .229, but they have also allowed the highest hitting percentage to opponents at .238. Abby Harrell headlines the Wildcat offense after winning BIG EAST Freshman of the Week honors for the fourth week in a row. 

SCOUTING GEORGETOWN: The Hoyas enter Sunday's match with a 3-9 conference record and a 12-12 overall record. Georgetown began their 2023 campaign on fire winning their first four matches and finishing the non-conference schedule at 9-3 with VCU and Penn. They continued their success into the BIG EAST play going 3-3 with a win over Butler and a hard-fought 3-2 loss to Xavier. However, Georgetown has since hit a wall losing their last six conference matches with their last win dating back to Oct. 7 against UConn.

The Hoyas have struggled on offense ranking in the bottom half of nearly every category Kamryn Lee-Caracci has one of the few bright spots on offense hitting for .322 this season, which ranks third in the conference. 

GEORGETOWN VS BUTLER (Sep. 29): Butler kicked off their first conference road trip in Washington D.C. falling to the Hoyas in four sets (25-18, 25-19, 17-25, 25-19). Despite the Bulldogs collecting more kills in the match, Georgetown was more accurate hitting for .323 compared to Butler's .263. 

The Butler pin-hitting duo of Abby Maesch and Mariah Grunze each recorded a double-double. Maesch led the match with 18 kills and 10 digs while Grunze collected 15 kills and 12 digs. 

VILLANOVA VS BUTLER (Sep. 30): The Bulldogs earned their conference win of the season in a sweep over the Wildcats in Pennsylvania. After edging out the win in Set 1, the Bulldogs carried the momentum into the next two sets to claim the conference victory 3-0. 

As a team, Butler hit .301 while holding Villanova to just .146. Destiny Cherry led the match with a .500 percent on six kills and just one error while Mariah Grunze hit for a season-high .371 on 14 kills and just one error.

HISTORY FOR KINLEY: In her 117th collegiate match, Jaymeson Kinley earned her first-ever double-double at Seton Hall last weekend. The two-time BIG EAST libero of the year finished with 16 digs and 10 assists in the five-set match. Kinley boosted her season average to 4.88 digs per set, which is second in the conference and 23rd in the country. 

Kinley sits at second on Butler's all-time career digs list with 1883 digs and remains on pace to break Katie Deprile's record of 2009 digs.

BOGGESS BOOST: Grace Boggess has made a significant impact at the net for Butler this season. She currently ranks fourth in the BIG EAST in two different categories including a hitting percentage of .333 along with an average of 1.03 blocks per set. 

Boggess hit for over .400 in both matches last week combining for an average of .464 while also adding 16 kills and nine blocks.

NOTHING BUT ASSISTS: The Bulldog offense has been a well-oiled machine this season especially when it came to passing the ball to the hitters. Butler is second in the conference with 1056 total assists (12.00 assists per set) this season. Setter Cora Taylor has paced the offense leading the BIG EAST with an average of 10.23 assists per set, which ranks 40th in the NCAA.

Taylor cracked 900 total assists this season after registering 88 assists in both matches last weekend.

GRUNZE THE GREAT: Mariah Grunze has been Butler's top option on offense this season leading the team with 292 kills. Last weekend, she tied her career-high of 21 kills at Seton Hall. 

Grunze is 33 kills away from reaching the 1,000 career kills and eight kills away from reaching 300 kills this season.

UP NEXT: The Bulldogs will remain in Indianapolis for their final matches in Hinkle Fieldhouse this season against UConn and Providence. 

The Bulldogs will face UConn on Friday, Nov. 10 at noon followed by a match against Providence on Sunday, Nov. 12 at noon.