Volleyball Set For Road Showdowns at USF, Georgetown
10/28/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Follow the Pirates this weekend as they close out their road schedule at USF and Georgetown. For the final road trip of the season, shupirates.com will once again feature live blog coverage of both matches!
@ USF (9-11, 5-4)
October 29 - 7:00 p.m.
SHU VS. USF All-Time: 2-3
Last Meeting: Sept. 27, 2009
Location: South Orange, N.J.
Result: L, 3-0
@ GEORGETOWN (13-12, 3-6) Live Stats
October 31 - 2:00 p.m.
SHU VS. GU All-Time: 7-19
Last Meeting: Sept, 26, 2009
Location: South Orange, N.J.
Result: W, 3-2
After winning two straight road matches last weekend, Seton Hall looks to repeat the feat with contests at USF and at Georgetown. The Pirates are currently in a three-way tie for seventh place in the BIG EAST, a half-game behind USF and one-and-a-half games in front of Georgetown. Following this weekend's matches, the Hall closes out its regular season schedule with four home dates.
USF just completed a five-game road trip with a 2-3 record, including losses in its last two. The Bulls have won four of their past five home contests. Senior right side Allie Boaz leads a balanced offensive attack with 2.81 kills per set, while junior libero Janice Rivera sets the tone defensively with 4.27 digs per set.
Georgetown is also coming off a five-game stretch away from home in which it went 1-4. Senior outside Kortney Robinson paces the Hoyas with 2.80 kills per set, just ahead of the 2.78 from senior middle Vanessa Dorismond. Junior libero Tory Rezin is tops on the team with 3.54 digs per set.
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. 1,473 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 sixth in kills per set with 3.53 and 10th in points per set with 3.81. Matusiak is eighth in kills per set with 3.33 and seventh in points per set with 4.04. Making it all happen is setter Olivia Trudeau, who is third in the BIG EAST in league play with 10.89 assists per set.
MATUSIAK HONORED
After posting a pair of double-doubles in the Hall's wins over Connecticut and St. John's, Meghan Matusiak was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll for the second time this season. For her career, she has 932 kills, leaving her 68 short of becoming just the eighth player in school history to reach 1,000 kills.
MIDDLES PERFORM WELL
The Pirates were aided by the play of starting middles Morgan DeVries and Krissy Wrobel at St. John's, with each turning in nine kills and five blocks. DeVries had nine kills at Connecticut, one game after totaling eight kills and seven blocks at Rutgers.
HUGEBACK ON DEFENSE
Hannah Hugeback recently recorded three straight matches of 20 or more digs, the first such matches of her career. She has 14 double-digit dig efforts on the season and a total of 261.
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 4.35 digs per set, good for fifth 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.
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.
