CHICAGO, Ill.-  After suffering only their third loss of the season, UConn volleyball rolled into Chicago for a critical BIG EAST matchup against the DePaul Blue Demons on Sunday afternoon.

The Huskies found themselves in a 7-1 hole early, after DePaul got an ace from Nora Mannion and two from Aly Kindelberger that forced UConn into a quick timeout. Jill Pressly came into the match leading the conference in kills, and put her skills on display early with three kills to extend the DePaul advantage to 14-5 in the first set. Hanna Tylska and Grace Maria each notched two kills to try and ignite a first set rally, with Maria and McKennna Brand sending in aces with the Blue Demon lead at 20-11. DePaul was consistent early and often, taking the early match advantage with a 25-13 first set win.

UConn had to play from behind in the second set, as three Blue Demons recorded kills and Rachel Krasowski poured in consecutive aces to generate another timeout from the visitors, with DePaul leading 9-3. The Huskies came out strong from the timeout with strong play on both ends. Taylor Pannell, Anna Herman, and Doga Kutlu were stout defensively, aiding the Huskies with a block each. An ace from Pannell cut the DePaul lead to 12-9. However, the home squad continued to have answers, with Pressly sending in her match-leading 7^th kill to build back the lead to six at 15-9. Herman commandeered the comeback attempt, with three rapid fire kills to bring the score level at 16-16. In a second set full of runs, two UConn errors and an ace from DePaul's Amanda Saeger helped the home team reestablish their three point advantage at 19-16. The Huskies would not relent after falling behind 23-17 in the second, as Tylska and Pannell chipped in a kill and block each to close the gap to 24-23. However, Kindleberger helped the Blue Demons slam the door in the set, with the hosts charging ahead two sets to zero.

In a must-win third set, UConn snagged their first lead of the match on a Tylska ace in the opening moments of the frame. In a seesaw third set, UConn and DePaul alternated points back and forth at 10 apiece. With eyes on a sweep, Pressly and DePaul constructed a 15-12 advantage after the grad student's first ace of the afternoon. Herman and Tylska battled to pull the Huskies even at 19-19 in crunch time of the set. With their backs against the wall, Tylska, Pannell, and Loren Winn charged up a UConn comeback to get the UConn at set point 24-23. Two monster blocks from the freshmen tandem of Winn and Herman lifted the Huskies to a third set victory, 28-26.

DePaul leapt out to a 5-0 lead in the fourth, capitalizing on multiple UConn miscues. More strong defensive play from Herman and Winn helped the Huskies hang around, closing the gap to one. Yagmur Vavuz and Megan Scholz picked up the Demons, running the advantage back up to 11-6, instigating a UConn timeout. The Huskies rattled off four consecutive tallies to get within one. Two consecutive terminations from Taylor Pannell got the grad student double-digits on the afternoon, with the Huskies still trailing 19-16. The two-set deficit would be too much for UConn to overcome, as they dropped their second in a row, falling in four sets.

Up Next: UConn concludes their three-match road trip in Providence on Wednesday night. DePaul welcomes in Seton Hall on Friday night.