Volleyball Heads to Rutgers on Friday
10/14/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
The Pirates play just one match this weekend as they face Rutgers on Friday night.
SETON HALL PIRATES (8-13, 2-3)
@ RUTGERS (8-11, 0-5)
October 15 - 7:00 p.m.
SHU VS. RU All-Time: 12-14
Last Meeting: Oct. 24, 2009
Location: South Orange, N.J.
Result: W, 3-0
The Seton Hall volleyball team enters a key stretch in its schedule as the race for a berth in the BIG EAST Championship heats up. The Pirates play their first of five straight road games on Friday when they travel to local rival Rutgers. The Hall has won five straight over the Scarlet Knights, all in three sets.
The Pirates are 2-3 in the conference after dropping a tough 3-1 decision to Villanova last weekend. Next weekend, the Hall will make trips to Connecticut and St. John's, followed by visits to USF and Georgetown. The final four matches of the year will be at Walsh Gymnasium.
Rutgers lost its first five BIG EAST matches before stepping out of conference on Tuesday to sweep Rider. Senior outside Caitlin Saxton leads the team with 204 kills, 174 digs and 20 aces. Sophomore setter Stephanie Zielinski has also enjoyed a solid campaign, averaging over 10 assists per set. In league play, the Scarlet Knights are second last in hitting percentage at .140 and last in opponent hitting percentage, yielding a .303 clip.
OSMUN SETS SCHOOL KILL RECORD
Senior Sarah Osmun, just the seventh player in school history to eclipse 1,000-kill mark, became the all-time leader in kills at Seton Hall on Sept. 26 at Louisville. Osmun tied Jennifer Cheshire's mark of 1,379 in the fourth set before setting the new record in set five.
CAREER KILL LEADERS
1. 1,430 Sarah Osmun 2007-Present
2. 1,379 Jennifer Cheshire 1994-97
3. 1,345 Tricia Meyers 2005-08
4. 1,156 Jenna Meyers 2000-03
5. 1,124 Kari Belin 1999-02
OFFENSIVE THREATS
Sarah Osmun and Meghan Matusiak have formed one of the top one-two offensive punches in the BIG EAST. In conference play, Osmun is third in kills per set with 4.00 and fourth in points per set with 4.31. Matusiak is ninth in kills per set with 3.38 and in points per set with 3.98. Making it all happen is setter Olivia Trudeau, who is second in the BIG EAST in league play with 11.86 assists per set.
MATUSIAK MAKING NOISE
Meghan Matusiak set a career-high with 26 kills at NJIT, just days after coming up with a then personal-best 23 against West Virginia. In between, she came up with a career-high 19 digs against Pittsburgh. With 883 career kills, she has a chance this season to become just the eighth Pirate to reach the 1,000-kill plateau.
HUGEBACK'S CAREER DAY
Hannah Hugeback stepped her game up against Pittsburgh, setting new career-bests with 18 kills and 18 digs. One match later, she again broke her dig mark by picking up 23 against Villanova. Hugeback leads the team with 10 double-doubles this season, including her current streak of five straight.
SETTING THE TABLE
Setter Olivia Trudeau registered a personal-high 66 assists against Pittsburgh, just one day after picking up a then career-high 57 against West Virginia.
BREAKTHROUGH AGAINST LOUISVILLE
The Hall's win over Louisville was the first in school history against the Cardinals, who had taken the first five meetings. Louisville was picked second in the BIG EAST Preseason Coaches' Poll, making it one of the biggest road wins in Pirates' history.
THE 1,000-1,000 CLUB
Sarah Osmun passed the 1,000-dig mark in the Hall's win over UMBC on Sept. 17. She joined Jennifer Cheshire and Laura Romeika as the only players in school history to record 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs.
WARREN KEEPS DIGGING
Freshman libero Alyssa Warren is off to a great start in her Seton Hall career with 4.47 digs per set, good for sixth in the BIG EAST. Warren has already turned in several big efforts, with matches of 31, 29, 27, 24 and 22 digs.
PRESEASON POLL
Following a promising 2009 campaign, Seton Hall was picked seventh in this year's BIG EAST Preseason Coaches' Poll. It is the highest the Pirates have been slotted under fifth-year head coach Kris Zeiter. The Hall finished last season in a tie for eighth place.
PROGRAM ON THE RISE
The year 2009 saw Seton Hall earn its first berth in the BIG EAST Championship since 1994. As the No. 8 seed, the Pirates took on No. 1 Notre Dame in the first round, falling 3-0. The 2010 Championship will be played at Pittsburgh, with just the top eight teams qualifying once again.
WARREN IMPRESSES IN RED, WHITE & BLUE
Freshman libero Alyssa Warren spent part of her summer as a member of the U.S. Junior National A2 Team, helping the squad to a silver medal at the USA Volleyball High Performance Championships in Wisconsin Dells, Wis. Warren was one of only six players in an 18-team division to earn All-Tournament honors, picking up the distinction of Best Passer. The performance will likely yield an invitation to the next round of national team tryouts.
BEYOND THE NET
Seton Hall is filming a season-long reality show on the 2010 volleyball season, entitled "Beyond the Net." Episodes will air exclusively on SHUPirates.com, the official website of Seton Hall Athletics.
