Pirates Can't Pull Ahead Against DePaul, Drop 3-1

Published: Sunday, October 13, 2024

by Tommy Fee

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J - The Seton Hall Pirates volleyball team battled out the number two conference team in a Sunday afternoon matchup in South Orange. The DePaul Blue Demons and Seton Hall Pirates saw a four-set match that went back and forth, but the Blue Demons prevailed three sets to one.

Kicking things off in the first set, the Pirates maintained a precarious one-point lead throughout, as continued unforced errors led to a deficit for DePaul. However, the Blue Demons found their footing as they rounded out the set with an insurmountable 7-1 run, just when the Pirates looked prime to steal the first set.

Moreover, throughout that run, firing on all cylinders was the balanced and spread-out Blue Demon offense, where attackers from all sides spelled trouble for The Hall. The Pirate offense was a little slow to pick things up, and were unable to convert on those all-important late-set points. The final score of the first frame was 25-20.

Onto the second set, the Pirates’ attack looked much more impressive, albeit facing some more difficulties – this time in the form of errors, as opposed to not getting contact with the ball. This second set saw more swings for the Pirates, yet the continued presence of the balanced attack from the Blue Demons remained too much.

On the defensive side for the Pirates, the Hall Wall looked rather commanding, despite having work cut out for themselves. In those first two frames, the Pirates notched four kill blocks ahead of the Blue Demons. Despite this frame setting the Pirates back further with a 25-25 loss, the question of the Pirates offense fully executing remained at large.  

In the third set, that question would be answered, as the young-gun pin-hitting duo caught fire. Senna Roberts-Navarro led the charge in the set, with a team high six kills –the most for the Pirates in any single set throughout the match. Roberts-Navarro’s varied attack patterns proved to be too much for the offense on the left end.

Over on the right side, Maddy Loiselle electrified Walsh Gymnasium with powerful swings that forced shanks and a particularly incredible bounce off of an overpass. Throughout the set the Pirates took control, especially in the second half when the sophomore duo began to catch fire. The final score for the third frame was 25-18 in favor of the Pirates.  

However, despite winning in commanding fashion in the third set, the fourth set saw the Seton Hall fight from behind on the back leg. After a rocky start from its defense, the unforced errors from the other side of the net, combined with solid Pirates offensive play, kept them in the game. Despite knotting things up at 17 apiece from a kill from Maddie Klungel, marking a four-point comeback, the Blue Demons notched a 7-2 run to round out the final frame in a 25-19 win, taking the match three sets to one.

Overall, the game saw the Pirates able to fight and handle themselves comfortably –despite pressure from a tough DePaul attack. However, their rocky starts in frames two and four, combined with the disappointing first set, saw the dangerous DePaul squad able to finish things out strongly.

The Pirates saw promise as they fought hard on each point, and were able to not only avoid the sweep, but also look comfortable in their momentum doing so. Should the Pirates maintain their offensive momentum, be ready for them to breakout in the next half of their season.  

Top performers for the Pirates are Roberts-Navarro and Laila Wallace, who both had nine kills and topped the kill percentage leaderboard with .381 and .318, respectively. Following the loss, the Pirates fall to 7-10 overall and 1-5 in conference play, ninth in the conference. With the Pirate offense looking stronger as the game went on, there is no question that this team will be ready for an offensive breakout come Wednesday, when they will host Georgetown at 5:00 in historic Walsh Gymnasium.  

Tommy Fee can be reached at thomas.fee@student.shu.edu.

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