Credit: GR Productions
Pirates Struggle in Harvard Invitational Opener
Published: Saturday, September 13, 2025
by Nicholas Diodato
CAMBRIDGE, MA -- It was a match of struggles for the Seton Hall Pirates (4-4), who came up short against the Washington State Cougars (5-3), losing 3-1 at the Harvard Invitational on Saturday.
The struggles for the Pirates were prevalent, being held to only 49 kills and committing
23 service errors. Washington State stayed in control for most of the game, with 12
blocks and hitting at .339 to Seton Hall's .188.
Both teams came to the invitational on a high note. Washington State was coming off
their win against Harvard, a 3-0 sweep, whereas the Pirates came in hot following
their road win against Saint Peters.
In just their second all-time meeting, Seton Hall looked to be in control after the
first set, winning 25-23. In just the first few serves, the Pirates were up 10-5 with
three kills from freshman Daria Safian.
However, Washington State did not go down without a fight. With Seton Hall going up
as much as seven points, it was set point at 24–18 when the Cougars forced a late
comeback, making it 24–23, and with two kills from Melina Christodoulou. But it was
an attack error from the eventual star of the game, Cougars’ Mary Healy, that sealed
the set win for the Pirates.
After this, things began to trend downward for the Pirates. Seton Hall continued to
make the same mistakes, with junior Maddy Loiselle making back-to-back service errors
and back-to-back service aces from Senna Roberts–Navarro and Sadie Reich.
The Pirates were able to steadily keep the Cougars lead within five. Seton Hall called
their first timeout of the set and let up four points for the Cougars, making it a
set point with the set-sealing kill from Melina Christodoulou.
Set three was a grit and grind match, with a lot of back-and-forth action. Kills from
Roberts–Navarro, Subasili, Loiselle, made it 8-5. Then two kills for the Cougars from
Kate Hayhurst and one from Camryn Lingenbrink tied it up 9-9.
This continued throughout the set, with the lead only going as high as four on both
ends of the net. The Cougars began to pull away amid two more kills and two attack
errors from the Pirates.
But the kill from freshman Eliana Tia brought the match lead up to two for the Cougars,
looking to close it out in the next set.
Set four was Washington State’s strongest yet, starting out with a 6-0 lead before
a Pirates timeout after three attack errors, two Cougar kills, and one service ace.
By this point, it had looked as if the Pirates were too far behind.
Soon after, it became a 20-10 lead for Washington State. The match was sealed after
a kill from Healy, who ended the night with fourteen kills and six blocks.
Saturday’s match turned out to be a tough one for the Pirates. After their loss in
the first set, Washington State got into control quickly and ran away with the match
in the following three sets. The Pirates will look to bounce back on Sunday in game
two of the Harvard Invitational, this time against Harvard at 2:00 P.M.
Posted in: sports,