Struggles for Volleyball continue with sweep by St. John's

Date: September 29, 2018

By Joe Binder

On Saturday evening, the Seton Hall volleyball team fell in three sets to St. John’s on the road. The Pirates had a difficult time offensively, finishing the match with a disappointing .154 hitting percentage. Seniors Caitlin Koska and Abby Thelen each accumulated just 6 kills.

The Red Storm opened up the match by getting out to a quick lead, and maintained it for the entire first set. The Pirates did claw back to cut the St. John’s lead down to three after a kill by Amanda Rachwal. However, the Red Storm went on a big 8-1 scoring run to take set one 25-15.

In the second set, Seton Hall captured their first lead in an early back and forth battle. After tying it at 7 a piece, St. John’s slowly began to pull away after several big kills by Kayley Wood. The Red Storm eventually extended their lead to 18-11, but the Pirates did not give up. Kills by Abby Thelen, Claire Forrest, Emilee Turner, and a few others helped Seton Hall pull back to within one. St. John’s freshman Efrosini Alexakou capped off the second set with a kill, giving the Red Storm a 25-23 win and a 2-0 advantage.

The Pirates got out to a quick 4-1 lead in the third set, but St. John’s quickly responded. Down 14-13, the Johnnies went on a 5-0 run and cruised to win the set 25-17 and take the match 3-0.

Following the loss, Seton Hall now falls to 5-13 overall and 0-5 in conference play, while St. John’s improves to 14-6 overall and 3-2 in Big East action. The two teams will meet again on Friday, November 9^th inside Historic Walsh Gymnasium.

The Pirates will look to end their six-game losing streak next Friday as they travel to Omaha, Nebraska to face the No. 10 Creighton Blue Jays at 8 PM.

Joe Binder can be reached at joseph.binder@student.shu.edu

Posted in: Sports, Volleyball, WSOU