Seton Hall kicked off a three-game weekend on Friday afternoon with a 3-2 (25-20, 23-25, 21-25, 26-24, 11-15) loss to Marquette, the top team in the Big East.
The Golden Eagles came into the match with a nearly unblemished 11-1 conference record, having already defeated the Pirates on Friday night. Despite strong performances from senior Alyssa Warren and junior Stacey Manthorpe, SHU again fell to the Golden Eagles.
But this was a very different game than the three-game sweep on Nov. 7.
"We played like we had nothing to lose tonight," Pirates' head coach Allison Yaeger said. "We went out there and gave it all we had."
Seton Hall jumped all over Marquette in the first set for a 25-20 victory, building a lead as large as 10 points. The great start was sparked by Manthorpe, who led the way with 17 kills, and Warren's six digs in the opening set.
In the second set, the Pirates continued to hang with Marquette. They took a 14-13 lead behind strong play from sophomore Molly Grammer and junior Shelbey Manthorpe, who finished with a team-high 48 assists. Down 22-20, SHU clawed its way back with kills from sophomore Amanda Hansen and freshman Danielle Schroeder. They closed the score to 23-24 before a kill from freshman Meghan Niemann gave the Golden Eagles the win.
After last week's disappointing loss to Marquette, Seton Hall was able to hold its own after the opening pair of sets. Stacey Manthorpe opened the third set with an ace, and both teams traded scores for the majority of the set. A late push by the Golden Eagles put them over the top for a 25-21 win.
Seton Hall edged out the fourth set by a score of 26-24, as Hansen and Schroeder, who tied for a team-high 17 kills, delivered two cold-blooded kills that won the Pirates the set.
"Danny [Schroeder] has just gotten better and better this whole year," Yaeger said. "It's tough as a freshman to come into the Big East and play well right away. If she's putting up 17 kills against Marquette as a freshman, I can't wait to see what she does as a senior."
SHU came out of the gate red-hot in the fifth set, but fell 11-15 to the Golden Eagles.
Marquette was led by a game-high 20 kills from freshman Autumn Bailey and 15 from junior Lindsey Gosh. Senior Julie Jeziorowski totaled 21 digs at the forefront of the Eagle's defense, and senior Elizabeth Koberstein racked up 54 assists.
Seton Hall will face off against Creighton on Saturday at 4 p.m., followed by a 2 p.m. matinee against Depaul on Sunday. Both games will be played at home in Walsh Gymnasium.
Thomas Duffy can be reached at thomas.duffy@student.shu.edu.
