Volleyball's Upset Bid Denied by Irish, 3-1
10/31/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
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NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The Seton Hall volleyball team played a spirited match, but fell to Notre Dame, 3-1 (25-18, 25-19, 22-25, 25-18), on Saturday. The Pirates (9-16, 3-6) won a set against the Irish for the first time since 2004, and for just the second time since Notre Dame (15-4, 9-0) joined the BIG EAST.
Junior Sarah Osmun (Crystal Lake, Ill.) notched her fourth straight double-double with 16 kills and 11 digs. Freshman Olivia Trudeau (Shell Beach, Calif.) handed out 51 assists. Senior Allie Matters (North Tonowanda, N.Y.) recorded 24 digs to extend her nation-leading double-figure dig streak to 62 matches.
The Irish quickly took an 11-3 lead in the first set, but the Pirates would not go away easily. Kills by Meghan Matusiak (Winfiled, Ill.) and Hannah Hugeback (Virginia Beach, Va.) capped a 7-2 spurt to cut the deficit to 17-16. Notre Dame converted on the next four-of-five points to build the advantage back up to four and went on to take the frame, 25-18.
SHU got off to another slow start in the second, trailing 10-5, but were once again able to battle back to make the game competitive. The Pirates came within one point on six occasions, but could not muster the tying point. The Irish closed the set strong, finishing with a 6-1 run to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
In the third, Seton Hall was able to start strong and play with a lead, going ahead 8-4 in the early going. After trading a series of points, Notre Dame strung together a 6-2 spurt to tie the score at 18-18. The Pirates regrouped and scored the next three points to regain a comfortable margin and held off the Irish to extend the match, 25-22.
The fourth set was closely contested, but Notre Dame held a slim margin for the majority of the frame. An attack error pulled SHU within 16-15, but that would be as close as the Pirates would come in the set. A 9-2 run by the Irish finished the match off.
The Pirates will return to action tomorrow at noon against DePaul in Chicago, Ill.
