WSOU

SHU Falls Out of Top Four in BIG EAST with Loss to Villanova

Date: November 4, 2017

vball

(Photo: SHU Athletics)

By: Chris Russo

The Wildcats took out the Pirates three sets to one on the outskirts of Philadelphia Friday night and sent them on the bus back to South Orange.

Seton Hall fell to 14-13 on the year, and 8-6 in the Big East, now half a game back of the Wildcats for the final spot in the Big East Tournament.

The home team dominated the first set by the score of 25-12. The Wildcats rode the powerful play of Amanda Pederson-Henry and her five first set kills. Meanwhile, the Pirates offense was not very potent, as only three Seton Hall players recorded a kill in the first set. In fact, the Pirates had more errors than kills in the opener, handing Villanova a big head start.

Set number two set the tone for the rest of the match with a nail-biting, back-and-forth affair. The Pirates offense awakened, with Sharay Barnes, Abby Thelen, and Caitlin Koska all recording their first kills of the evening. Villanova returned the favor Seton Hall lent in set one by committing more errors in the second set. However, the Wildcats' offense was even stronger than before, with Allie Loitz opening up what would become a game-leading 16 kills. Nova went up 24-21, before consecutive errors allowed SHU to cut the lead to one. The Wildcats atoned for their errors by finishing off a tight set 25-23, and taking a commanding two sets to none lead on The Hall.

The third set showed all the prowess the Pirates brought in the second frame, except this time, they finished. An equally exciting third set flipped the scores as SHU stayed alive with a 25-23 win. Villanova had tied the game at 23-23, but the Pirates held on for the win. The most important factor was the awakening of Abby Thelen. She was not in the starting lineup, but finally made her presence known, along with Sharay Barnes, en route to a team-leading 12 kills.

The fourth set seemed similar to the previous two, and showed promise for the Pirates, until the game reached a 12-12 score. Villanova scored the next six points, and thirteen of the last twenty, to end the set 25-17, and the match, 3-1.

The Pirates' next match is at Georgetown on Saturday, November 4 at 6PM.

 

Chris Russo can be reached at crusso98@gmail.com.

Posted in: Sports, WSOU

 

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