Seton Hall volleyball falls to Morgan State in season opener

Date: August 30, 2019

By: Ben Harris

In a heated five-set match, the Seton Hall Pirates lost their season opener in Baltimore against the Morgan State Bears, 3-2.

 

Senior setter Maggie Cvelbar played great in all areas of the floor as she finished the match with a double-double consisting of 29 assists and 10 digs. Senior middle blocker Haylee Gasser had nine kills and a team-leading 14 digs. Young players stood out as well, seeing freshman middle blocker Reece Koehler with an impressive debut, where she posted 10 kills and three blocks.

 

On the other side, Morgan State's sophomore outside hitter Zoe McBride led the match in kills by a large margin, putting up a whopping 30. With her, leading statistically in another category, was senior setter Roi Wallace with 58 perfectly placed assists. The outstanding play from this duo led to a Bears win in the end. 

 

The match was deadlocked 2-2 going into the fifth set as the Pirates took sets two and four, 25-19 and 25-22, while the Bears swiped sets one and three, 18-25 and 23-25. However, the competitiveness did not last into the final set, as Morgan State finished a tired Pirates squad 5-15. The fifth set stayed very close when it began until the score was 5-7 when Morgan State went on an eight point tear to close out the match.

 

This match was the first look we got at either of these two teams this season and took place as a part of the Morgan State Invitational. The Invitational event will continue for both teams as Seton Hall will play Quinnipac and Towson at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturday. Morgan State will continue hosting against William & Mary tonight at 7 p.m., and tomorrow against Towson at 6 p.m.

 

Following the conclusion of the Morgan State Invitational, Seton Hall will host its own invitational tournament with the Seton Hall Classic. Beginning next Friday, Sept. 6, the Pirates will take on Northern Arizona and La Salle, followed by Binghamton and Northeastern on Saturday, Sept. 7. They will then continue invitational play at Akron, followed by George Mason before the start of Big East conference play on Sept. 27.

Ben Harris can be reached at benjamin.harris@student.shu.edu.

Posted in: Sports, Volleyball, WSOU