SOUTH ORANGE, N.J The Seton Hall volleyball team concluded play with a 3-1 (30-25, 30-28, 25-30, 32-30) win over Syracuse on Senior Day at Walsh Gymnasium. Senior Jessica Pompei (Fairview Park, Ohio) had 22 digs in her final match as a Pirate and set a new Seton Hall single-season record with 415 digs for the season. The Pirates had a 2-0 lead in the match, but lost game three, then had to rally from a 10 point deficit to finish the match.
Sophomore Tricia Meyers (Cincinnati, Ohio) led Seton Hall with 21 kills and five blocks. Freshman Allie Matters (North Tonowanda, N.Y) and sophomore Breanna Leisner (Bloomington, Ill.) had double-doubles in the match. Matters posted 13 kills and 20 digs, and Leisner registered 12 kills and 15 digs. Sophomore Brittany Rahrer (Fort Wayne, Ind.) handed out 60 assists, and finished the year with 1,243 assists, the third highest total in a single-season for the Pirates.
Seton Hall took an 8-4 lead to start game one, but the Orange (11-25, 5-9 BE) hung around and came within one, at 17-16. The game stayed competitive, but the closest Syracuse could get was at the 25-23 mark. The Pirates held onto the lead as they went on to win game one.
In game two, the Pirates found themselves behind early, but managed to come back to take a 10-8 lead. The Orange went on an 8-2 run, to take the lead back and extended it to 16-12. Syracuse stayed in control with a 25-20 advantage, but Seton Hall responded, going on a 7-0 run to regain the lead at 27-25. The Orange tied the game at 28-28, but a Syracuse error and a Stacey Craighead (Roanoke, Va.) kill gave the Pirates a 2-0 lead in the match.
A 7-0 run in game three, helped Syracuse take a 14-8 lead. The Orange took a nine point lead at 25-16 when the Pirates began to close the gap with an 8-2 run, to make it 27-24. After a Syracuse timeout, the Orange regrouped and took game three, 30-25.
The Pirates fell behind 7-1 in game three and Syracuse extended their lead to 18-8. Seton Hall began to slowly chip away at the Orange lead to make the score 27-22. Then the Pirates scored six unanswered to take their first lead of the game at 28-27. Syracuse took advantage of two Seton Hall errors and was serving for the game at 29-28, but a bad serve by the Orange tied the game at 29. Syracuse had another chance to win the game with the score 30-29, but a Meyers’ kill and two straight Orange errors capped the Pirate win.
The Pirates finished the year with a 16-14 overall record and a 5-9 mark in the BIG EAST, improving on their 14-16 and 4-10 records from a year ago.
