Volleyball Hosts Syracuse, Marquette This Weekend
11/5/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
vs. SYRACUSE (22-6, 4-6)
November 6 - 2:00 p.m.
SHU VS. SU All-Time: 6-22
Last Meeting: Oct. 4, 2009
Location: Syracuse, N.Y.
Result: L, 3-1
vs. MARQUETTE (18-7, 8-2)
November 7 - 2:00 p.m.
SHU VS. MU All-Time: 3-2
Last Meeting: Oct. 2, 2009
Location: Milwaukee, Wisc.
Result: W, 3-2
After splitting a pair of road matches last weekend, including a 3-0 sweep of Georgetown, Seton Hall controls its own destiny in its quest for a berth in the BIG EAST Championship. The Pirates are currently tied for seventh with four games remaining. If the current standings hold, Seton Hall would be the No. 8 seed and face No. 1 Louisville in the first round. The Pirates upset the Cardinals on the road earlier this season.
Syracuse enters this weekend's match one game behind Seton Hall in the conference standings. The Orange had lost four straight BIG EAST matches before picking up a win against West Virginia in five sets on Sunday. Junior outside Noemie Lefebvre leads the offense with 3.22 kills per set, followed by senior middle Hayley Todd with 2.95 per set. Syracuse boasts a .277 hitting percentage on the year, which ranks third in the conference.
Marquette is on a roll with 11 consecutive wins overall, and eight straight in the league after beginning 0-2 in the BIG EAST. Seton Hall has won three straight matches against the Golden Eagles, all of which went five sets. This season, Marquette has been paced by junior outside Ashley Beyer with 3.91 kills per set, with her classmate, Ciara Jones, adding 3.17 per set from the same position. The Golden Eagles lead the conference with a .294 hitting percentage for the year.
OSMUN HITS 1500
Already the all-time leader in kills at Seton Hall, senior Sarah Osmun became the first player in school history to reach the 1,500-kill mark. Osmun hit the plateau on Oct. 31 at Georgetown with her eighth and final kill of the match.
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. 1,500 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
MATUSIAK CLIMBING THE CHARTS
Junior Meghan Matusiak is up to 949 kills in her career, leaving her 51 short of becoming just the eighth player in school history to reach 1,000 kills. Matusiak has twice been named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll this season.
ALL-AROUND PLAYER
Sarah Osmun is up to fourth all-time at Seton Hall with 1,136 digs in her career. She passed the 1,000-dig mark in the Hall's win over UMBC on Sept. 17, joining Jennifer Cheshire and Laura Romeika as the only players in school history to record 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs.
TRUDEAU RISES IN THE RECORD BOOKS
Sophomore setter Olivia Trudeau is already up to fourth place all-time at Seton Hall in assists with a current total of 2,206. She is 2,193 out of third place, held by Casie Alexander, and and 2,598 behind the career record of 4,804 held by Brittany Rahrer.
WARREN DIGS HER WAY TOWARDS THE TOP
Freshman Alyssa Warren has recorded 432 digs thus far, the third-best single-season total in school history. She trails on ly Allie Matters, who totaled 614 in 2009 and 576 in 2008.
CAREER-HIGH FOR HUGEBACK
Sophomore Hannah Hugeback set a new career-high with 20 kills at USF. She also recently recorded three straight matches of 20 or more digs, the first such matches of her career. She has 15 double-digit dig efforts on the season and a total of 279.
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.
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.
