The Seton Hall volleyball team competed in its fourth tournament, the Seton Hall Invitational, of the season Sept. 17 and Sept. 18. The Pirates hosted the tournament and the games were played in Walsh Gymnasium.
The Pirates took on Northeastern University in the final match of the tournament and lost on Sunday, 3-1 25-16, 25-13, 16-25, 25-19. Junior Meghan Matusiak led the team with 15 kills to go along with 14 digs, while senior Sarah Osmun totaled 11 kills. Freshman Alyssa Warren collected a team high 15 digs.
The 6-4 Western Michigan Broncos were the champions of the Seton Hall Invitational, going 3-0 in matches while only losing one set the entire tournament. Northeastern University, 7-4, captured second place with a 2-1 finish, while 3-8 Seton Hall took third place going 1-2 and winless UMBC, 4-5, coming in fourth.
Of the first 11 games they played, only the game against Princeton University was home, which resulted in a victory for the Pirates.
"Having the fans out there and being on your home court was great. It was nice to be at home because last weekend we were in California, and the time difference was difficult," senior Sarah Osmun said. "Certain times Friday night you could hear the crowd cheering loud and it really helped us to perform better."
The Pirates dropped their second match to Western Michigan on Saturday morning, 3-1 (25-19, 25-18, 19-25, 26-24). Warren had a strong defensive performance totaling 27 digs to keep the Pirates close in every set, while Matusiak led the Pirates with 16 kills. Just like the first match, four Pirates earned double doubles.
The Pirates got off on the right foot in their first match of the tournament, defeating UMBC 3-1 on Friday (25-21, 25-6, 23-25, 25-21). Osmun took charge with 19 kills and 16 digs on the night, and was one of four Pirates who earned double doubles.
Osmun was selected to the All-Tournament team. "It feels great, but a lot of other girls played very well too, and were just as worthy of the award," Osmun said.
"We should definitely do this tournament in the future, we have had preseason tournaments before and they have never been as successful as this year," Osmun said. "I can only imagine what it would be like in the following years, as long we continue to play well."
John Provenzano can be reached at john.provenzano@student.shu.edu.
