Pirates Force Five Sets, but Fall to Marquette 3-2

Published: Friday, October 25, 2024

by Lauren Reese

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J - The Seton Hall volleyball team were almost successful in their upset attempt over Marquette, but fell to the Golden Eagles three sets to two. The Pirates drop to 8-12 overall and 2-7 in conference. Marquette moves to 13-6 and 8-1 in conference, but narrowly escaped today with the victory.

Marquette came into Walsh Gyymnasium having won five in a row, coming off a sweep of Xavier and a five-set victory over DePaul last weekend. Their only conference loss came on Oct. 1 in four sets at No. 6 Creighton. The first set saw the Pirates keep it close, not letting Marquette get a lead more than five points. Lots of rallies ensued throughout the entire frame, with both teams coming away with big points from them.

However, at their 19-point mark, Marquette began to push harder and force multiple Pirate players into attack errors. While the Pirates fell 25-16, Senna Roberts-Navarro’s performance was just heating up. Additionally, Rylee Nelson returned to the court for the first time since September 21st. Despite the first set loss, the Pirates did not look defeated or nearly ready to give up just yet; they were ready for a long night of volleyball.

The second set saw a completely different Pirates team, with a variety of players getting on the kill count. Roberts-Navarro added three, Perri Lucas added four and an ace, and Grace Turner and Asli Subasili had two each. The Golden Eagles called two timeouts within the frame, both of which were when they were losing by multiple points. Shannon Thompson’s squad forced Marquette into miscommunications and scrambles around the court, limiting them to an attacking percentage of just .143.

Thanks to a diving save from Mason Woo that resulted in a Grace Turner kill, the Pirates were first to reach the 20-point momentum mark. Another defining moment of the set included Subasili’s second block of the evening to put the Pirates at set point. An attack error from Marquette’s Aubrey Hamilton pushed the Pirates to the victorious 25, while Marquette were held to 17 points.

Keeping the intensity up after breaks in sets is always a struggle, and the Pirates deeply felt that starting off set three. After keeping it close for the first eight points, the Golden Eagles went on a 6-0 scoring run and never looked back. The Pirates were now the ones with multiple service and attack errors, and were having difficulty finding their spark. However, Roberts-Navarro continued to add to her total, adding two more kills to put her total up to eight. Marquette’s Ella Foti had back-to-back kills, and a Pirates’ attack error pushed the set score to 25-13. In true rollercoaster fashion, the Pirates were now forced to bounce back in set four.

But unlike the previous set where Marquette continuously led throughout, the Hall stayed alive and kept this set within arms length; there were seven ties and six lead changes in this frame. A block party including two from Roberts-Navarro, one from Turner, and two from a duo of Subasili and Maddie Klungel resulted in Pirates points and tides turning in their favor.

The Pirates were able to force Marquette into numerous attack errors, while offensively keeping their own foot on the gas. Lucas added three more kills to her total, and Roberts-Navarro secured her second straight double-double. She had the set-winning point to finalize the fourth with a score 25-20 score. Now even at two sets apiece, the final challenge of who could reach 15 points first was about to ensue. 

The Hall started off hot with a quick 3-1 lead, as Maddy Loiselle opened the frame with a kill and a block. But Marquette stormed back and took a 5-3 lead with kills from Hattie Bray and Jenna Reitsma. Loiselle and Lucas each collected another kill, but were then drowned out by three straight kills from Hamilton. Roberts-Navarro closed the deficit to three points towards the end, but Marquette continued on and took the set 15-9. 

Despite the loss, the Pirates handed Marquette two set losses; coming into this matchup, Marquette had only lost three total sets in the entirety of conference play, coming at the hands of the No. 6 Creighton Bluejays. Additionally, Roberts-Navarro's 13 kills helped her surpass the 200-kills mark for her career. She and her team will look ahead to their next matchup against the Bluejays tomorrow at 6:00 p.m.

Lauren Reese is an Assistant Sports Director and Web Editor, and can be reached at lauren.reese@student.shu.edu. 

 

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