Seton Hall University
Middle Tennessee State
Pirates Complete Two-Set Rally to Stun MTSU, 3-2
9/20/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
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Manthorpe tallied a career-high 53 assists to go with nine digs and six kills to put an exclamation point on a strong three-match tournament.
Juniors Molly Grammer (Center Valley, Pa.) and Amanda Hansen (Pewaukee, Wis.) joined Manthorpe as Seton Hall representatives on the All-Tournament Team. Grammer finished the match with a team-high 14 kills, while Hansen had 13 kills, five blocks and a team-best .545 attack percentage.
Seton Hall jumped out to a 9-4 lead at the beginning of set one, but the Blue Raiders responded with a 6-1 run to tie the set at 10. From there, the advantage went back and forth with neither team gaining more than a two-point lead for the rest of the set. Fourteen ties and four lead changes later, a kill by MTSU's Chelsea Ross put them in set point and the block that followed led to a 25-23 first set victory for Middle Tennessee State.
The early goings of set two were tight, but Middle Tennessee State grabbed control mid-way through the set. Leading 13-11, the Blue Raiders scored six of the next seven points to take a commanding 19-12 advantage. MTSU would stretch their lead to as many as nine points before downing Seton Hall, 25-17, in set two. MTSU's Jazmyne Johnson had nine kills in set two alone. Seton Hall shot a match-low .138 in the set, while the Blue Raiders connected at an impressive .393 rate.
The Pirates came out of the extended break with a little more intensity and it translated to an early 8-3 lead, prompting two early MTSU timeouts. The Blue Raiders cut the lead to 9-8, but Seton Hall scored five of the next seven points, and a kill by Danielle Schroeder (Chicago, Ill.) extended the Pirates lead to 14-10. Middle Tennessee State cut the Pirates' lead to 21-19, but it didn't get closer as Seton Hall staved off the match loss with a set three victory, 25-21.
Middle Tennessee State took an early 6-5 lead, but it was their last advantage of the set. Enjoying the momentum of their set three victory, the Pirates went on a 6-1 run to take an 11-7 lead. A kill by Molly Grammer extended Seton Hall's lead to 21-13, its largest lead of the set, and Seton Hall went on to a 25-19 set four victory.
Schroeder finished the match with a season-high 13 kills.
Seton Hall dominated the fifth and decisive set. The Blue Raiders never led as Seton Hall scored the first three points. Clinging to a 6-5 lead, the Pirates scored four straight points to take a commanding 10-5 advantage. A kill by Amanda Hansen put Seton Hall in match point at 14-8, and a MTSU attack error gave the match to the Pirates.
Riding a wave of emotion, the Pirates were nearly perfect in set five. Seton Hall had nine kills and no errors on 12 attacks for an astonishing .750 attack percentage. Grammer and Hansen had three kills apiece for The Hall in the final set.
Tessa Fournier (Redondo Beach, Calif.) tallied a career-high 26 digs in the victory. Stacey Manthorpe (Merion Station, Pa.) had eight kills and 14 digs. Ashani Rubin (Philadelphia, Pa.) was the fifth Pirate with at least eight kills. She matched a career-high with nine kills and seven blocks.
Jazmyne Johnson had a monster game for Middle Tennessee State. The sophomore recorded a match-high 22 kills. Johnson and teammate Chelsea Ross were also named to the All-Tournament Team.
Seton Hall will return to action when it opens its BIG EAST portion of the schedule vs. Providence on Wednesday at Walsh Gym. Match time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
