The volleyball team's losing streak has expanded to four matches following a five-set loss (25-20, 16-25, 22-25, 25-23, 11-15) to Marquette on Saturday.
The Pirates (15-4, 3-4) ran into a buzz saw at home on Saturday, facing a Marquette (16-3, 6-0) team that extended its winning streak to nine games, staying perfect in conference play. Although the Pirates could not win the match, head coach Allison Yaeger was still happy with the way her team played.
"I'm really, really happy," Yaeger said. "Marquette is extraordinary in everything they do. Just to take that match to five sets was really amazing."
The Pirates took the first set, 25-20, on the strength of 17 kills, the most either team had in any set in the match. The score remained close until Seton Hall broke a 10-10 tie and pulled away with the set, leading by as many as five points.
The Hall was forced to play from behind in the second set, as Marquette controlled the pace. The Golden Eagles had strung together a few scoring streaks and Seton Hall could not answer back. Senior Hannah Hugeback's four kills were not enough to get the Pirates back in the set, losing 25-16.
Following a 5-1 run that would give Marquette a 19-14 lead in the third set, junior Alyssa Warren's ace and sophomore Simona Sekulova's three kills cut the deficit to one point. Sophomore Shelbey Manthorpe's ace capped off a 6-1 Pirate streak that knotted the score at 20. However, the Pirates just fell short in the comeback losing the set 25-22.
After losing back-to-back sets, the Pirates had another 17-kill set and won 25-23. The two teams traded points in the early part of the set but the Pirates started to pull away and jumped out to a 15-10. From there, the Hall carried a comfortable lead and eventually got match point at 24-19.
Marquette clawed their way back in it and cut the lead to one, but, Shelbey Manthorpe sneaked a lob to a vacant back corner and the Pirates took the set.
Manthorpe said her good volleyball background helped her make the clever set winner.
"Just seeing the hitters you learn where everyone is going to be positioned," Manthorpe said. "As a setter, I see that all the time. I was able to know where everyone was going to be and I felt that shot would work there."
Yaeger said she saw her team at their best in the fourth set.
"We were getting a lot of touches on their hits and that's something were couldn't do in the second or third set," Yaeger said. "And it just killed us."
The fourth set successes did not spill into the final set for the Pirates. Marquette jumped out to an early 2-0 lead and held it for the remainder of the set, winning 15-11.
The team returns to action against Syracuse at 2 p.m. on Sunday in Walsh Gymnasium.
Gerard Gilberto can be reached at Gerard.Gilberto@student.shu.edu
