The Seton Hall volleyball team got back on track and swept non- conference opponent Hofstra in their home-opener at Walsh Gymnasium on Tuesday night.
The Pirates came off a tough road trip that included conference losses to Xavier and Butler over the weekend.
"I was scared to death coming into this match after what we put on the court on Sunday," head coach Allison Yaeger said. "But I'm very proud of what they did and I'm so happy they could turn it around."
Junior Shelbey Manthorpe led the Pirates with her 13th double-double of the season with 24 assists and 11 digs. She also had seven kills and four blocks in the match.
"It was a big win. We just needed to get our confidence back and learn to play together again," Manthorpe said.
Sophomore Amanda Hansen led the offensive attack for the Pirates with eight kills to go along with her five blocks.
After a back-and-forth start, the Pirates were able to rally and tie the score at 23. Both teams missed set point opportunities, but Seton Hall took advantage of an attack error by Hofstra and won the next point to take the set 28-26. Fresh- man Danielle Schroeder contributed four key kills in the set for Seton Hall.
"We need to let them make the errors and limit our mistakes," Yaeger said. "We really just concentrated on our side of the net and taking care of business and that's what we did on those last couple points."
The Pirates rode the momentum in the second set by taking the set, 25-16, without trailing a single time. The score was tied 10 times in the third set and most dramatically at 23, when the Pirates were looking to close out the match. Shelbey Manthorpe and her sister, Stacey, finished off the set with kills to win the match and complete the sweep of the Pride.
Seton Hall was on the other side of the broom on Sunday when they got swept by Butler in the two teams' first-ever meeting.
Shelbey Manthorpe recorded a double-double in the losing effort with 22 assists and 14 digs. Stacey Manthorpe led the Pirates' offense with seven kills while senior Alyssa Warren led the team in digs with 15.
Butler came out strong and dominated the Pirates in set one, winning the set and not allowing Seton Hall closer than a five-point deficit. Butler went on two separate runs to defeat Seton Hall 25-16 in the second set. The third set was no better for the Pirates as they trailed early and despite a late comeback attempt, lost 25-17.
On Friday, the Pirates fell to Xavier, 3-1, in the two teams' first-ever meeting on the court. Seton Hall started the match strong and held on to win set one 25-21.
The second set was even at 13 until Xavier scored seven of the last nine points in the set to even the score at one apiece. The Pirates found themselves fighting from behind in the final two sets but lost both of them 25-16 and 25-21 respectively.
Shelbey Manthorpe recorded her fifth triple-double of the season, in the loss.
Manthorpe attributed her success this year to the constant support of her teammates and her coaches both on and off the court.
Her sister Stacey Manthorpe notched her fifth double-double in the match with 10 kills and 12 digs.
Seton Hall will look to get its first Big East victory when it hosts Villanova on Friday, Oct. 11 at Walsh Gymnasium.
Mike Romano can be reached at michael.romano1@student.shu.edu
