Seton Hall University
Creighton
First Place Pirates Rally Past Creighton, 3-2
10/10/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
BOX SCORE (.html) | BOX SCORE (.pdf)
| HIGHLIGHTSSOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - The Seton Hall volleyball team tallied a season-high 22 team blocks as it rallied to defeat Creighton, 3-2 (25-17, 21-25, 20-25, 25-15, 15-9), for its 10th straight victory on Friday.
In a battle between the only two remaining unbeaten teams in the BIG EAST, the Pirates had to rally from down two-sets-to-one to improve to 16-3 overall and a perfect 6-0 in conference play.
The Hall was led by its staunch defense which put up a season-high 22 team blocks. Four individuals had at least five blocks, with senior Ashani Rubin (Philadelphia, Pa.) leading the way with a career-high 12 blocks. Shelbey Manthorpe (Merion Station, Pa.) had a career-high nine blocks and Amanda Hansen (Pewaukee, Wis.) had seven.
Stacey Manthorpe (Merion Station, Pa.) registered a career-high 19 kills to lead the offense. She also tallied 12 digs for her team-leading 12th double-double of the season. Her sister Shelbey had a monster all-around game, tallying 47 assists, eight digs and five kills to go with her aforementioned nine blocks.
Seton Hall led 7-5 early in set one, but Creighton responded with four straight points to take a 9-7 advantage. With the score tied at 11, the Pirates went on a 7-1 run, fueled by a pair of aces from Hansen, to take an 18-12 lead. The Bluejays scored four straight to cut the lead to 18-16, but The Hall responded with a set-ending 7-1 run to win set one, 25-17. Seton Hall held the high-flying Creighton offense to just a .042 attack percentage in the opening set. Tessa Fournier (Redondo Beach, Calif.) was everywhere defensively, tallying eight digs in set one alone.
Fournier finished the night with a career-high 31 digs.
Creighton grabbed an early 7-4 lead, but it was quickly neutralized. Blocks by Shelbey Manthorpe and Ashani Rubin gave the Pirates a 15-11 advantage. Trailing 18-15, the Bluejays made their move, scoring five straight to take a 20-18 lead. Seton Hall cut the Creighton lead to one, three times, but couldn't get closer as the Bluejays evened the match with a 25-21 set two victory. The set was a stark role-reversal from set one. This time it was the Bluejays showing staunch defense, holding The Hall to just a .024 attack percentage. The Pirates had 10 kills and nine errors in set two.
Pivotal set three was a back-and-forth affair with the teams recording 10 ties throughout. With Seton Hall leading 13-11, Creighton scored six straight to take a 17-13 advantage. From there, the Pirates played catch-up for the remainder of the set. Seton Hall cut the lead to 21-20, but the Bluejays scored the final four points of the set to win, 25-20, and take a 2-1 match lead.
Creighton's success however, was short-lived. Their lead at the end of set three was their final lead of the match.
Seton Hall came out hot in set four, scoring five of the first six points. Leading 9-5, the Pirates went on a 7-1 run to take a commanding 16-6 advantage, their largest of the match. Creighton cut the lead to seven, but got no closer as Seton Hall dominated set four, 25-15, to tie the match at two sets apiece.
The Pirates scored four of the first five points of set five on the strength of three kills from Stacey Manthorpe. Blocks by Stacey Manthorpe and Ashani Rubin give Seton Hall a 7-2 lead and prompts Creighton to take its second timeout of the set. The lead stretched to 9-2 before the Bluejays got going. A kill by Simona Sekulova (Auckland, New Zealand) put the Pirates in match points at 14-8 and Stacey Manthorpe's fifth kill of the set won it for The Hall, 15-9.
Seton Hall had a .360 attack percentage in set five, tallying 10 kills and just one error.
Seton Hall will return to action tomorrow afternoon when it hosts Georgetown at Walsh Gym. Match time is scheduled for 5:00 p.m.
