[caption id="attachment_14837" align="aligncenter" width="576"]
Photo Courtesy of SHU Athletics[/caption]
After a rocky start to the season, which saw the Pirates win just one set through their first four matches, the Seton Hall volleyball team captured its first win of the season on Saturday morning in a 3-0 sweep of Canisius.
The Pirates worked like a well-oiled machine in their second game of the Seton Hall Classic, showing strong attacking and net blocking in the victory. The Pirates took it to the Griffins in the first set, ending on a 7-0 run to win the set, 25-13.
The second set was once again controlled by the Pirates, however Canisius made things a bit closer as Seton Hall took the set, 25-20. With its back against the wall, Canisius came out with a sense of urgency in the third set. A very back-and-forth set – which saw multiple ties and lead changes – would soon be controlled by the Pirates as they won the set 25-19 to sweep the match 3-0.
“Everybody contributed this morning, and that’s what we need," head coach Allison Yaeger said. "We were able to control the ball, we made good digs so we could set whoever we want and everyone was putting the ball away."
Cherise Hennigan and Daniel Schroeder each led the way for the Pirates in kills with 11 apiece. For Schroeder, it was her second consecutive match finishing with double-digit kills.
While the attacking was strong for the Pirates, a win wouldn’t have been possible without their stellar defensive effort. Libero Tessa Fournier led the team with 17 digs, followed by Sophia Coffey and Caitlin Koska with 12 and 11 digs, respectively. Coffey was able to set up her teammates all morning long with a game-high 24 assists.
“We have some people show up on some days and this morning everybody showed up, everybody contributed, everybody scored points and we won,” Yaeger said.
Additionally, Yaeger seemed excited to be back at home and the advantage it will give her team in tonight’s game against Towson.
“Being at home at Walsh Gym is huge. We love our crowd, we feed off their energy," Yaeger said. "Towson’s a really good team. They’re used to winning… so we’re looking forward to playing another tough team tonight and hopefully we can come away with the win.”
The Pirates have a quick turnaround as they will re-take the court at 7:30 p.m. to take on the Towson Tigers.
Matt Ambrose can be reached by email at matthew.ambrose1@student.shu.edu and can be found on Twitter @mambrose97.
Comments
