The volleyball team, fresh off a sweep of the Hofstra Pride, look to continue their impressive start this weekend while participating the Art Carmichael Invitational in Rhode Island before coming home, their first home game of the season Wednesday, Sept. 12.
In the tournament they will face Canisius and Hartford on Friday at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., and then play tournament host Rhode Island on Saturday at 3 p.m..
This will be the team's third invitational this season, and first-year head coach Allison Yaeger said she uses these invitational tournaments as a way to prepare for Big East play and help create team chemistry.
"This year we have a lot of freshmen that made their way into the starting lineup," Yaeger said. "We have a really strong freshman class, so for them it's good to get the playing time early in the season and get all the hiccups out of the way. That goes for the whole team, get the hiccups out of the way early, and that's what preseason is for."
Canisius is currently 2-5 this season. All-time against the Pirates are 2-0 against them with their last matchup being in 1996 which was a series win for the Pirates, 3-1. In the two all-time matches between the Pirates and Canisius, Seton Hall has dropped only one set.
Hartford stands at 3-5 on the season and holds a 1-4 record all-time against the Pirates.
Rhode Island is currently 2-4 this season. The Rams are against the Pirates all-time with the last matchup being a 3-2 victory for the Pirates on Sept. 13, 2008.
Yaeger attributes the success to good preparation before the season started and a good mentality throughout the team.
"The girls all came back in really good shape and really ready to go this year and we have a really big sense of urgency." Yaeger said. "We talk about urgency a lot. And they all just have that kind of attitude, and it's been like that from the second we stepped on the court in preseason, and we just have continued to really push the girls to be focused and have a sense of urgency when they step on the court in matches, and that's how it's been from day one."
Following the Art Carmichael Invitational, the Pirates plays in Walsh Gymnasium for the first time this season when they face the Princeton Tigers.
Princeton is currently 1-2 and will be playing in the Colgate Invitational this weekend. Yaeger said she is excited for the first home game and the advantage it gives to the team.
"Our first home game is always such a big deal for everybody," Yaeger said. "It's very exciting to finally play on our home court, in the gym that no one likes in the Big East besides us, and just to have our home crowd behind us, we're so excited for it. We are very excited, we can't wait to be on our home court with our home crowd and it to be nice and loud and have all the support that we can get."
Brandon Biskobing can be reached at Brandon.biskobing@student.shu.edu
