Lucas Collects 1,000th Kill as Pirates Go 1-1 in Weekend Away Trip

Published: Sunday, October 6, 2024

by Victor Gonzalez

Entering their first Big East back-to-back away trip of the year, the Seton Hall Pirates were on a three-game losing streak that needed to be broken. They had the opportunity to do just that on Friday against Providence and Saturday against UConn, in two big-time Big East matchups. Here’s how both matches went down.

The Pirates entered Friday 6-7 on the season and 0-2 in Big East play, ready to square off against a Friars team that was 7-6 on the season and also 0-2 in conference. Set one saw an incredible 15 ties and 10 lead changes. The Pirates were down 20-18 versus the Friars but closed out the set on a 7-0 run. A block from Maddie Klungel put the Pirates at set point, and Perri Lucas had the set-ending kill to take the first set 25-20. 

In set two, the Pirates got off to a strong start going up 7-1, but allowed the Friars to gain momentum and tie the set at 10. The Friars continued to command the second set going up 20-14. The Pirates came back and cut the deficit to 23-20, but Providence held on and took set two 25-21, to tie the match at 1 set apiece.

In set three, the Pirates and Friars kept it tight with neither team building a lead of more than four points. The Pirates were only down by one point approaching the end of the set, but Providence was able to grab the set 25-22. The Friars won two straight sets to take a 2-1 lead in the match, but the Pirates would soon flip the script. 

The Hall never trailed in set four and came out quickly with a 14-5 lead. Maddy Loiselle, who matched her career-high 17 kills in the match, had a big-time kill that extended the Pirates' lead to 20-10. Providence scared the Pirates with an 8-0 run that cut their lead to 20-18, but the Pirates held on and took set four 25-20 to tie the match 2-2.

In the game-deciding set five, the Pirates had a match-high .368 attacking percentage. With the score tied at five, the Pirates scored four straight points to take a 9-5 lead. But the Friars continued to fight back, making things interesting as they trailed by only one point towards the end, 13-12.

Yet the Hall closed out the exciting match with two straight kills from Jenna Walsh, who had a season-high 18 kills for the day. She and the Pirates reached the winning number of 15 points, beating Providence 3-2, and securing their first Big East win of the year, 

The Pirates improved to 7-7 on the season and 1-2 in conference play. But they now had to turn the page and get ready for the next day, as they would soon face off against UConn. After finishing last in the conference last year, the Huskies entered this matchup 12-2 on the season, and 0-2 in Big East play.

UConn started set one hot, quickly building an 8-2 lead. The Pirates cut the deficit to 13-10, but the Huskies went on another four-point run, going up 17-11 and eventually holding the lead to win 25-19. 

In set two, graduate student Perri Lucas hit her 1,000th career kill to cut the Pirates deficit to 12-9. Lucas becomes the 12th Pirate in Seton Hall history to reach 1,000 kills in their career. But after the kill, UConn went on another run and extended their lead to 20-11. They closed out the set 25-16 to go up 2-0 in the match.

In set three, the Pirates gained some momentum back by leading the entire set, taking it 25-21 and cutting UConn’s match lead to 2-1. Loiselle had the set-winning spike, and she ended the night with 10 kills total.

Set four saw 14 ties and seven lead changes. Seton Hall went up 13-11 after a Grace Turner kill, but UConn rallied back and took the lead 15-13. Later in the set, the match was tied at 20, but the Huskies scored four straight points to make the set 24-20. The Pirates inched back to only be down by one 24-23, but UConn found the final point to win set four 25-23 and the match 3-1.

After their weekend trip, the Pirates are 7-8 overall and 1-3 in Big East play. They will return to South Orange on Friday, Oct. 11th in a matchup against Xavier in historic Walsh Gymnasium.

Victor Gonzalez can be reached at victor.gonzalez@student.shu.edu

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