Volleyball defeats two Big East opponents on the road

Led by sophomore Devon Maugle, the UConn volleyball team had a weekend to remember, defeating South Florida and Pittsburgh on the road to move into sixth place in the Big East Conference.

The Huskies (14-10) are now 5-4 in the Big East, and with six games to play are in a favorable situation in the conference standings. The top eight teams advance to the conference tournament in Milwaukee, Wis. in November.

The Huskies were in Tampa, Fla. on Friday to take on the South Florida Bulls and picked up their most impressive win of the season, pulling out a 3-2 victory after dropping the first two sets.

The Bulls never dominated in the first two sets but won both by scores of 25-19 and 26-24. UConn stormed back, taking the next two sets by scores of 25-22 and 25-21 to force the extra set. Going into the match, the Huskies were 1-1 when matches went five sets, most recently losing to Cincinnati the week before. UConn pulled off a 15-13 fifth set victory to take the match.

Freshman Immanuella Anagu and senior captain Mattison Quayle led the way for the Huskies on Friday with 15 kills each, a career-high for Anagu. Maugle added 13 kills and 12 digs for her seventh double-double of the year. Freshman Marissa Prinzbach recorded 18 digs and reached 50 assists for the third time this season.

The Huskies then made their way up to Pennsylvania to take on the Pittsburgh Panthers on Sunday afternoon. Pittsburgh kept it close, but UConn was able to scrape out a 3-1 victory to move to 5-4 and to sixth place in the Big East.

Maugle was the star of the match, posting yet another double-double with 17 kills and 17 digs. Sophomore Karson Ratliff continued her impressive run over the past couple weeks with 13 kills. Anagu capped off a career weekend by getting 10 kills. Kelsey Maving was her usual self on defense, picking up 27 digs, while Prinzbach just missed the century mark in assists for the weekend, recording 48.

With six games left, the Huskies still have a lot of work to do in order to keep their tournament spot and to get the most favorable seed possible. On Saturday, UConn hosts Rutgers, who are struggling in conference play with a 2-7 record. On Sunday, the Huskies host Seton Hall, who sit just ahead of UConn in fifth place, but also have a 5-4 record.

Both matches are at Gampel Pavilion and begin at 2 p.m.