Seton Hall Athletics[/caption]
The Seton Hall volleyball team could not keep up with the Big East-leading Creighton Bluejays in a Halloween night match on Saturday. The Pirates fell in three straight sets.
Opening the match, Seton Hall was the team to beat. It won the first two points, and continued to roll along with a lead throughout the set.
The turning point, though, came when Seton Hall earned its largest lead of 17-11. The Bluejays became shy no more, as they scored five straight points, which forced a Seton Hall timeout.
The Hall fought to keep up, but Creighton started to show why it is at the top of the Big East. Once they got Seton Hall on its toes, the Bluejays were able to use their force and confidence to lead the team to a 25-22 victory in the first set.
The Pirates showed vulnerability, and that was something they could not afford.
“We had to be flawless tonight, we really, really did,” head coach Allison Yaeger said. “I told the girls going into this match that I needed all of them to show up tonight. We have a problem with that.”
Going into the second set, Creighton maintained its dominance and was consistent throughout. Seton Hall did not provide much of a challenge, and a handful of the Hall’s points came from Creighton errors. Seton Hall never led in the set, and the Bluejays won it handily, 25-18.
“Our offense worked really well when we were able to pass,” Yaeger said. “And I told our swingers to swing away tonight because we really had to be aggressive in order to compete with this team, and some of our hitters did a really nice job and others didn’t.”
The Hall, though, did come into the third set with a purpose. The team was aggressive early and competitive throughout, staying tied with or ahead of the Bluejays. Once the teams were tied 15-15, however, Seton Hall was never able to get the lead back, and dropped the set 25-20 to confirm Creighton’s sweep.
One standout player in the match was Danielle Schroeder, who had nine kills in the contest.
“[Schroeder] knows what it takes to play somebody like that, and to beat somebody like that, and she played outstanding,” Yaeger said.
The Hall has a quick turnaround against Dayton on Sunday as it continues this last stretch of the season.
Elizabeth Swinton can be reached at elizabeth.swinton@student.shu.edu or on Twitter @eswint22.
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