Campbell McKinnon posted 13 kills and three aces Saturday as Villanova women's volleyball swept UConn 25-20, 25-19, 25-19 at Jake Nevin Fieldhouse.
The straight-sets win completed a perfect opening BIG EAST home weekend for the Wildcats, who also swept Providence on Friday, Oct. 2. Villanova moved to 9-6 overall and 2-2 in conference play, according to Villanova athletics.
McKinnon, a junior middle blocker from Collierville, Tennessee, led all players in kills for the second straight match. She also posted 13 kills against Providence the night before.
Annika Veurink posted a career-high six blocks against the Huskies. She had four blocks the night before against Providence. Cat Young turned in seven kills, six digs and three blocks. Alyssa Nelson ran the offense with a match-best 27 assists, and Mina Diggs anchored the back row with 12 digs. Taylor Lewis added six kills.
Villanova hit .207 as a team while holding UConn to a .115 clip. The Wildcats out-aced the Huskies 6-2 and committed three fewer hitting errors.
The first set was tight early. UConn erased a 4-1 deficit to tie the score at 5-5 before Villanova pulled ahead 11-7 on a Veurink block. The Huskies trimmed the gap to 15-14, but a Reagan McGivern kill pushed the lead back to three. A McGivern service ace brought up set point at 24-18, and a McKinnon block sealed the opener 25-20.
UConn grabbed its biggest lead of the night in the second set, jumping out 9-4 and forcing a Villanova timeout. The Wildcats answered with a 7-2 run to level the set at 11-11, then ripped off six straight points to take command at 17-12. Young closed the set with back-to-back kills off Nelson feeds for the 25-19 win.
Villanova never trailed in the third. The Wildcats opened on a 3-0 run, built an 11-5 cushion and led 20-14 after consecutive kills from McGivern and Young. McKinnon converted a Nelson set for match point, and a combined block from Young and Veurink finished the sweep.
The 2026 season is head coach Josh Steinbach's 20th at Villanova. The Wildcats entered the year ranked second in the BIG EAST Preseason Poll (the Preseason BIG EAST Poll), and senior outside hitter Abby Harrell was named the conference's Preseason Player of the Year.
Villanova heads to Chicago to face DePaul on Friday, Oct. 9, with first serve at 8 p.m. ET. The Wildcats then travel to Milwaukee to take on Marquette on Saturday, Oct. 10.
