Friday night at 7 pm UD us hosting Villanova in its home opener. They are 3-3 just like the Flyers, but their schedule has been much weaker. The one top tier match was a 0-3 loss to USC. Two of their 3 wins were 2-3 battles with Colgate and New Hampshire. They play two matches today. Missouri State today at 11am before the Flyers tonight. It will be a challenging weekend for Villanova, but we cant overlook anyone with our short roster.
And
speaking of our roster, based on last week interviews, we should see Lexie back. After being out for 3 weeks with an illness, she might need to ease back into playing shape/form. If she is available to play on Friday I would not be surprised to see her dressed on the sidelines and only see limited time to ease back into competition. Taylor and Grace have both played well. The third OH has been a committee of players patched together playing out of position to get the team through this shortage. We also have freshman Mia Otten who returned last week with another week of practice that will help. As a freshman who sustained an injury during preseason camp, every minute she picks up in practice is critical to catch up on learning our systems, etc.
We should beat Villanova even without Lexie or Brooke Smith, who is in a boot and not expected back until next weekend at the earliest. But getting Lexie back is huge, even if she is limited tonight. We need her tomorrow.
