Seton Hall women’s volleyball continued their season in conference play with a win and a loss at home against Butler and Xavier on Friday, Oct. 27 and Saturday, Oct. 28, respectively.
The Pirates defeated the Bulldogs 3-2 sets after coming back from a 1 set deficit. Senior Perri Lucas secured a career-high 23 kills, which is good for the most by a Pirate in a single match this season.
The Hall dropped the first set, 25-19, but started the second set strong. Pirates began with a dominant lead which was easily maintained for a 25-15 win. Seton Hall also won the third set in a tight 28-26 matchup, where both teams were tied at 26 before a kill by sophomore Asli Subasili gave The Hall its first set point, and a kill by junior Maddie Klungel closed the 28-26 victory.
The fourth set was a constant back-and-forth, though it was the Bulldogs who came away with the 26-24 victory. The Pirates ended the final set, 15-11, to take the game and send the Bulldogs home empty-handed.
Seton Hall recorded a .297 attack percentage, exceeding Butler's .255. The Pirates also collected more kills with 73 to the Bulldogs’ 61.
The Hall walked away with some impressive individual statistics. Lucas dominated with 23 kills and five blocks, while senior Bianca Bucciarelli had a double-double with 17 kills and 10 digs along with three blocks and two aces. Senior Taylor Jakubowski had a double-double herself, with a team-high 30 assists and 10 digs.
Coming off of the high of the Butler win, the Pirates faced Xavier the following day. The Musketeers traveled from Ohio to face the Pirates with hopes to improve the Musketeer's in-conference record as they stand third in the conference.
Seton Hall vaulted into the match, taking the opening set with a .371 attack percentage and a 25-21 win. The Pirates had 15 kills and only two attack errors.
Xavier bounced back after the first set and went on to have three convincing set wins against the Pirates, the first of which was 25-16 and was followed by a valiant effort from the Hall, 25-22. Xavier showed a dominant performance on the road totaling 59 kills, 53 assists, and a team attacking percentage of .313 in the four-set match. Seton Hall trailed, completing a .128 attack percentage and 40 kills.
The final set saw Xavier dominate in a 25-5 loss for the Pirates. There were nine attack errors from Seton Hall with just one kill. Despite the loss, graduate student Madeline Matheny had her fourth straight double-double and racked up 13 kills and 11 digs. The Pirates were simply no match for the Musketeers.
The Hall is now 4-16 all-time against the Musketeers and has dropped 10 of the last 11 matches in the series. Seton Hall currently sits seventh in the BIG EAST with six games remaining. The Pirates will travel to Connecticut on Nov. 3 to face fifth place UConn at 6 p.m..
Phoebe Hampson can be reached at phoebe.hampson@student.shu.edu.
