WSOU

Recap: Pirates Sweep Xavier in Straight Sets at Home

Date: October 23, 2021

By: Christopher Benítez Cuartas

The Seton Hall women's volleyball team celebrates after winning a home match against Xavier.

Seton Hall Athletics

While Xavier has traditionally been considered one of the Big East's more modest teams, Seton Hall was in for a surprise, as the Pirates swept the Musketeers in three sets.

The first set was tightly contested, yet Seton Hall was dominant, as they were led by Emilee Turner in front. Seton Hall's offense was focused on a wide gap that took Xavier a while to figure out, and eventually resulted in both teams being knotted at 15-12.

After a kill by Xavier’s Delaney Hogan, the Pirates offense was starting to slow down with a couple of blocks by the Musketeers. However, the match was still a neck-and-neck affair.

At Xavier's first timeout, the score was 21-16. Turner performed a majestic block capped by a kill by Tsvetelina Ilieva, but soon after, Madison Frusha sealed the first set with a spike, with the final score tallying 25-21.

Cheers intensified as Lucia Corsaro of Xavier served and rallies ensued to begin the second set. In a minute and a half, Seton Hall was up 3-1, with plenty of activity on the court. Frusha took the lead as the crowd was wild.

Xavier’s delicate strategy of blocking at the center soon fell apart as the Pirates took an approach of “block, shift to the right, repeat.” Lucas brought Seton Hall up 8-2 five minutes into the set. Xavier, hitting the ball rather frantically, then called timeout. By now, SHU successfully gained control of the tempo and pace for the rest of the set.

The volume knob on the crowd slowly turned right as Cagla Bengi continued the team’s dominance with a service ace. Seton Hall's blocking on the left dramatically grew solid, with a smart strategy that had Madeline Matheny at center. Seton Hall was at 24-11 when Carrigan O'Reilly stopped a spike, unchaining a dramatic rally finished by Matheny’s kill. The final score of set number two was 25-11.

After the match, a fan was asked about the defining moment, and he responded, “At that moment, I knew that the other team [Xavier] was going to shut down.”

By the opening of the third set, there was no doubt both sides figured out the other’s gameplan. The Pirates fell back early after a few early Xavier points. However, Lucas and Frusha would get huge spikes on the ends to bring the Pirates back to score to an 8-5 lead. Another rally ended with a slam from Turner on the right corner, making it 17-12.

At this point, the Xavier offense slowed down, and Ilieva’s kill would continue the Pirates’ momentum. Xavier came back from a timeout and continued to struggle, and Lucas, Jakubowski, and Frusha were collecting points every chance they could. Kelly Franxman came back with a powerful kill for the Musketeers, but with Lucas getting another kill seconds later, the Pirates were back on track.

The Musketeers took another timeout, only to come back to see Matheny, Bengi, and Turner help spur the Pirates offense as they did all night, with the latter scoring the match point. The third and final set ended in a 25-13 victory for Seton Hall.

“[The team] played really well tonight,” said head coach Allison Yaeger at the match’s conclusion. “They hit their targets on the line, and that’s definitely something that we’ll use moving forward.”

Christopher Benítez Cuartas can be reached at christopher.bentezcuartas@student.shu.edu.

Posted in: Sports, Volleyball, WSOU

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