DePaul University

MORGANTOWN, W. Va. - The DePaul volleyball team stumbled against West Virginia on Friday night as they suffered a 3-0 (25-18, 25-14, 25-20) BIG EAST Conference loss in the WVU Coliseum. The Blue Demons fall to 6-14 overall and 0-6 in league action, while the Mountaineers improve to 13-9 and 3-4 in the conference.

West Virginia set the tempo of the match with 40 kills and a .226 team attack percentage while defensively holding DePaul to a .019 hitting percentage.  Lauren Evans paced the floor with 11 kills on a .625 clip, while Abby Norman tacked on 10. 

West Virginia's commanding offense limited the Blue Demons opportunities with the ball on their own side of the net, and registered just 27 kills in the match.  Lauren Blasi led DePaul with eight put aways.

Defensively, the Blue Demons performed strong, matching West Virginia dig-for-dig with 43.  Sarah Cullen and Katherine Knutson protected the backcourt with 14 and 12 digs, respectively, to lead the floor.  Aumann led the defensive effort at the net, bringing her season-block total to 38 after recording three block-assists.

Unable to find an offensive rhythm in the first set, the Blue Demons tallied nine kills while only breaking even in team attack percentage (9-9-41).  Conversely, the Mountaineers were unstoppable as the squad collected 15 kills and a .250 clip.  West Virginia put away the first game 25-18.

WVU carried the momentum on into the second frame and burst out to a 10-6 advantage.  DePaul hung close though, and pulled within three points behind aces from Kate Letcher and Knutson.  With the score at 13-10 in favor of the Mountaineers, WVU went on an unsurpassable 12-4 run to take a 2-0 lead going into the break.

After the intermission, the Blue Demons limited West Virginia's offense to a meager .103 attack percentage, but were unable to muster any offensive momentum themselves.  Molly Creek entered the third set to tally three kills on four attempts to pace DePaul, but the 12 Mountaineer put downs proved to be too much for the Blue Demons, as they suffered a 25-20 third-stanza loss.

Sammy Geiger managed the offense with 24 assists.  In addition to Blasi's team-leading eight kills, Cullen terminated the ball on six occasions, while Chandler Carney, Letcher, Aumann and Creek contributed three apiece. 

The Blue Demons continue the weekend's BIG EAST action on Sunday at noon against Pittsburgh.

Noting the Blue Demons
Sarah Cullen ranks 10th in the BIG EAST with 3.16 kills-per-game and seventh with an overall kill total of 237... Molly Creek set a new single-match high with .429 (3-0-7) attack percentage against Cincinnati last weekend... Chandler Carney improved her career-best attack percentage to .429 (11-2-21) against Villanova... Cullen has reached the double-digit kill plateau on ten occasions this season... she has also registered a double-double (kills-digs) in eight matches this season bringing her career total to 35... other Blue Demons to record a double-double include Christy Landschoot (Assists-Digs) and Sammy Geiger (kills-assists)... Cincinnati holds a 24-12 series advantage over the Blue Demons... Sarah Cullen has reached double figures in digs during 12 matches this season to lead the squad, while Chelsea Thurlby has reached the plateau 10 times... while Rachel Aumann tops the overall blocks total with 38, Chandler Carney has recorded an impressive seven solo blocks.