Credit: GR Productions
Pirates Fall Short to Red Storm in BIG EAST Opener, 3-1
Published: Saturday, September 28, 2024
by Darren Worrell
QUEENS, N.Y - Amidst yesterday’s cloudy weather, the Seton Hall women’s volleyball team crossed the Hudson to take on the St John’s Red Storm at Carnesecca Arena in Queens, New York. It was a very anticipated matchup, as these were both teams’ conference openers, and naturally, both were looking to start strong. Coming into this game, The Pirates were looking to bounce back in the win column after the tough loss against Fordham 3-1. The Red Storm were looking to keep their four-game win streak alive after victories in their non-conference schedule against Fairfield, Iona, Liu, and Bryant. Unfortunately, the Hall could not pull out the victory, falling three sets to one.
In the first set, Seton Hall struggled with early errors, allowing St. John’s to gain an early 7-4 lead. St John's Erin Jones picked up five of those seven points coming off five unanswered kills. However, as the set progressed, the Pirates found their rhythm, with Madison Klungel and Senna Roberts-Navarro making crucial plays to shift the momentum. Both teams exchanged powerful kills, with the Red Storm's Lucrezia Lodi and Giorgia Walther keeping the pressure on the Pirates. Despite the tight scoreline, The Hall's Reagan Merk delivered key service aces and Roberts-Navarro contributed strong attacks, helping the Pirates battle back from their slow start. With a final push from Merk with two back-to-back kills, the Pirates won the first set 25-23.
The second set began with both teams trading early kills, but St. John’s quickly gained momentum, highlighted by Jones and a series of strong plays from Wiktoria Kowalczyk. Seton Hall initially kept pace, with Roberts-Navarro and Asli Subasili contributing key kills and even securing a service ace. However, St. John's effective serving, particularly from Lodi and Mazda Stambrowska, led to several errors from the Pirates. As the set progressed, Seton Hall struggled with consistency, racking up attack errors that allowed St. John’s to extend their lead. Despite a brief timeout to regroup, the Pirates could not take any momentum. With a final push from Walther and Stambrowska, St. John’s clinched this second set 25-19.
As the third set started, St. John's continued their impressive performance. Both teams traded early kills once again, but St. John's quickly pulled ahead, highlighted by strong plays from Jones and multiple kills from Walther and Lodi. Seton Hall struggled with consistency, facing a series of attack errors and service mistakes that hindered their ability to keep up. St. John's capitalized on these errors, with Lodi repeatedly delivering service aces that grew their lead. St. John's maintained their drive, with Kowalczyk assisting key plays that kept the Pirates at bay. St Johns would clinch this set 25-12, with their last point off an attack error by Reagan Merk.
This fourth set began with both teams going back-and-forth, but St. John's quickly gained the upper hand, propelled by a series of impressive plays from Walther and consistent serving from Lodi. Despite some contributions from Roberts-Navarro and Hanna Tulli, Seton Hall's errors compounded, leading to a timeout as they attempted to regroup. St. John's capitalized on Seton Hall's mistakes, with Kowalczyk facilitating integral assists. As the set progressed, St. John's defense shined, especially with effective blocking. A final kill from Walther secured the set and the match for the Red Storm, 25-14, three sets to one.
Despite the loss, the Pirates should keep their heads held high, as they had several key performers with eye-opening stat lines in this match. Senna Roberts-Navarro and Reagan Merk both had 11 solid kills apiece and Maddie Klungel had 30 assists. With this opening loss, the Seton Hall Pirates fall to 0-1 in the Big East conference and 6-6 on the season. The St John’s Red Storm move to 1-0 in the conference and 12-3 on the season. The Hall will continue conference play at home on Saturday, when they face off against the Villanova Wildcats at Walsh Gymnasium at 5 p.m.
Darren Worrell can be reached at darren.worrell@student.shu.eduPosted in: sports,