DePaul Gets Back on Track Against Xavier

After dropping their first 2 conference matches of the season, there was a bit of frustration and anger on the side of the Blue Demons.

They took out that anger against Xavier last night.

DePaul (12-3, 1-2 BIG EAST) welcome the Xavier Musketeers (7-7, 3-1 BIG EAST) to the McGrath Phillips Arena last night.

Blue Demons head coach Nadia Edwards told her team before the match to play "hungry, frustrated, and motivated."

Coach Edwards, after the 3 set loss to Marquette last Saturday, decided to switch up her lineups a bit to see what kind of boost she could get from some of her players who might not have had much playing time as some others so far during the 2015 season.

One inparticular: Jasmine King.

King got the start last night for the Blue Demons and throughout the night had a fantastic match for herself. She led the Blue Demons with 10 kills in the match. While it might not the the biggest eye popping stat, if you were able to tune in to last night's broadcast or were at the match last night, her net front presence set the tone for the Blue Demons all night long.

For Xavier however, kill machine Abby Bessler was at it once again.

After coming off a career high and new school record 33 kills vs St. Johns, Bessler continued her hot run last night as well, totaling a match high 28 kills for the Musketeers. She gave the Blue Demons a really tough time last night through the first 3 sets.

Last night for DePaul, they won the first 2 sets 25-23, 25-23. Good start to the match right? Well, if you recall last week vs Butler, DePaul won the first 2 sets in that match as well, only to lose the next 3 to the Bulldogs and the match. Xavier took set 3, 25-20, and for a little while in the 4th set, it almost felt like Deja Vu for the Blue Demons. Momentum was on the side of the Musketeers.

Only this time... the Blue Demons sealed the deal.

After a late rally from Xavier, DePaul was able to close the match out in 4 sets, winning the 4th set 25-23 (same scores as sets 1 and 2). There were a total of 29 tie scores throughout the match, with only 9 total lead changes.

For DePaul, Colleen Smith tallied 35 assists and 17 digs, Saige Gallop with 9 kills and 4 digs, libero Tyler Graham contributed with 14 digs as well.

The complete box score can be found here: DePaul vs Xavier.

Up next for the Blue Demons, they hit the road for the next 4 matches, as they will travel to Seton Hall, Villanova, Creighton, and Georgetown in that order.


FYI: Our next broadcast of DePaul Blue Demons Women's Volleyball will be on October 16th when the Blue Demons host St. Johns. Make sure to catch the action on chicagolandsportsradio.com!