Volleyball Takes Bite Out of Tigers; Sweeps Princeton, 3-0

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PRINCETON, N.J. - The Seton Hall volleyball team held off a pesky Princeton team, 3-0 (27-25, 26-24, 25-23), on Tuesday night. The Pirates (8-6) held large leads in each of the three sets, before letting the Tigers (7-5) creep back in, and ultimately holding on in the games.

Senior Meghan Matusiak (Winfield, Ill.) led the charge with 16 kills on a .316 clip and added a season-best five aces and seven digs. Freshman Shelbey Manthorpe (Merion Station, Pa.) contributed 27 assists, five kills, and seven digs. Senior Krissy Wrobel (Reading, Pa.) posted a match-high six blocks.

SHU built up a 19-14 cushion in the first set off a Tigers' (7-5) attack error, but Princeton stormed back to tie the score, 23-23 after a block. Cathryn Quinn gave the Tigers their first lead and set up set-point with a kill to make it 25-24. Matusiak answered the call down the stretch, picking up a kill, an ace, followed by another spike to put the Pirates up, 1-0, in the match.

The Pirates built up another big lead, 13-6, on a long rally with Matusiak serving in the second set. However, Princeton responded with a methodically comeback and eventually took a 20-19 lead. For the second time in a row, Seton Hall faced dropping a set down 24-23, but Manthorpe evened things up with a sneak attack and then Wrobel teamed up with Matusiak and Hannah Hugeback (Virginia Beach, Va.) for her two biggest rejections of the night to give the Pirates the 26-24 set win.

Wrobel gave Seton Hall its largest lead in any set with a kill to put the Pirates up, 18-9, in the third. Once again, the Tigers clawed back and tied the score at 23-23 after a bad set by SHU. The Pirates quickly regained the lead off of an error on the ensuing serve and Stacey Manthorpe (Merion Station, Pa.) sealed the win with a kill.

Seton opens up BIG EAST play at Pittsburgh on Saturday, September 24 at 7:00 p.m.