Winthrop Holds Off Volleyball, 3-2

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WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The Seton Hall women's volleyball fell just short of its second five-set comeback win of the day, dropping a 3-2 (25-19, 25-17, 26-28, 26-28, 15-11) decision to Winthrop in the second game of the Tribe Invitational.

Sophomore Hannah Hugeback (Virginia Beach, Va.) came up with her second double-double of the day with 14 kills and 11 digs.  Senior Sarah Osmun (Crystal Lake, Ill.) also pulled off the feat with 14 kills and 15 digs.  Freshman Simona Sekulova (Auckland, New Zealand) chipped in 13 kills.

Freshman Alyssa Warren (Joliet, Ill.) was stellar on defense with 31 digs.  Senior Megan Murison (Woodridge, Ill.) led the team with 31 assists to go along with 14 digs.

Just as they had done earlier in the day, the Pirates (1-1) dropped the first two sets of the match before rallying.  It was not easy, however, as Winthrop (1-1) led 10-5 after a kill from Kellie Sellers.  The Hall began clawing its way back, cutting it to 14-12 after a Hugeback kill.  The set evened at 17, but the Eagles seemed to have things in hand after a Kelsey Harrison ace made it 20-17 in their favor.

Two straight attack errors and a kill by Sekulova got the Pirates back into a tie, which later became a 23-21 lead on a Hugeback point.  Winthrop fought back, fighting off a pair of set points to lead 25-24 and 26-25, but Osmun knotted it up at 26 with a huge kill for the Hall.  Junior Krissy Wrobel (Reading, Pa.) pushed the Pirates ahead by one, and an attack error from Sellers gave set three to Seton Hall.

The Pirates controlled most of set four, going ahead 20-15 on a Murison kill.  Sekulova made it 24-21 with a scoring attack, but Winthrop answered with three straight to again stay alive in the set.  With the score tied at 26, Osmun and Sekulova went back to back with kills to push the match into a fifth set.

The Eagles roared out to a 5-1 lead in set five, and the Pirates could get no closer than three the rest of the way.

Seton Hall will take on Wisconsin tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. in the final game of the Tribe Invitational.