This past weekend, the Seton Hall women’s volleyball team traveled to Santa Barbara, Calif. to compete in the Thunderdome Classic. The team faced off against Sacred Heart University on Friday and Texas Tech and University of California at Santa Barbara on Saturday, dropping two of the three matches.
In the first game against Sacred Heart, the Pirates won convincingly by a final of 3-0, in which they clearly dominated Pioneers in all three sets, 25-19, 25-14, and 25-12. As a team, Seton Hall had 40 total kills compared to Sacred Heart’s 28. The Pirates also had 38 assists total as compared to Sacred Heart’s 26. Caitlin Koska led the team with 10 kills, and Sophia Coffey led the team with 19 assists.
In the second game of the tournament, the Pirates found themselves against a tough Texas Tech team. After being blown out in the first set, the Pirates fought hard in the next two sets, but lost both and ultimately lost the match 3-0. Texas Tech had 45 kills and 32 assists as a team, compared to Seton Hall’s 33 and 32, respectively. Abby Thelen led the team with 12 kills, and Coffey and Maggie Cvelbar tied for the team lead in assists with 14.
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Photo via SHU Athletics[/caption]
Seton Hall’s final game of the tournament was against the host, the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos. The Pirates lost the first set 25-21, but quickly bounced back by winning the second set 25-18. The next two sets were hard fought by both teams, but UC Santa Barbara came away with the close win both times to win the match 3-1. UC Santa Barbara had 58 total team kills, while Seton Hall had 51. The Gauchos also had 54 team assists compared to the Pirates 49. For Seton Hall, Koska led the team in kills with 17, and Coffey led the team in assists with 23.
After going 1-2 in the Thunderdome Classic over two days, the Pirates drop to 4-5 on the year. After starting out the year 3-1, Seton Hall has lost four of its last five matches.
The Pirates will look to get back to a .500 record before the Hofstra Invitational, when they go up against the Princeton Tigers. The match is set for Tuesday, September 11 in Walsh Gymnasium.
Joseph Ippolito can be reached at joseph.ippolito@student.shu.edu or on Twitter @joeippy.
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