Pirates Open Season at Golden Dome Invitational

FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2016
**GOLDEN DOME INVITATIONAL**
SETON HALL (0-0) at NOTRE DAME (0-0)
Purcell Pavilion – Notre Dame, Ind.
7:00 p.m. ET
Watch ESPN | Live Stats | Twitter

SATURDAY, AUGUST 27, 2016
**GOLDEN DOME INVITATIONAL**
SETON HALL (0-0) vs. WESTERN MICHIGAN (0-0)
Purcell Pavilion – Notre Dame, Ind.
10:00 a.m. ET
Live Video | Live Stats | Twitter

SATURDAY, AUGUST 27, 2016
**GOLDEN DOME INVITATIONAL**
SETON HALL (0-0) vs. CLEVELAND STATE (0-0)
Purcell Pavilion – Notre Dame, Ind.
4:30 p.m. ET
Live Video | Live Stats | Twitter

PREVIEW
Seton Hall will open the 2016 season this weekend with a trio of matches at the Golden Dome Invitational, hosted by the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. The Pirates will face host Notre Dame on Friday at 7:00 p.m. ET, and then both Western Michigan and Cleveland State on Saturday.

The Pirates are coming off a 14-16 season in 2015, which includes an 8-10 mark in BIG EAST Conference play. The Hall finished fifth in the conference, which meant it narrowly missed a trip to the BIG EAST Championship, as the top four in BIG EAST play qualify. Although the Pirates lost All-Conference middle blocker Amanda Hansen to graduation, they return five other starters and two-time BIG EAST Libero of the Year Tessa Fournier. Joining the veterans are five newcomers, including three true freshmen, a junior walk-on and a junior transfer.

The Hall will open with Notre Dame on Friday at 7:00 p.m. After 19 straight losses to the Fighting Irish, the Pirates finally snapped their skid with a resounding 3-0 victory last season in Walsh Gym. The Pirates dominated Notre Dame as part of the Seton Hall Classic. Fournier had a double-double with 21 digs and 10 assists. Cherise Hennigan led The Hall with 13 kills. Notre Dame went on to finish the 2015 season with a 7-25 overall record.

On Saturday, the Pirates will entertain Western Michigan in a breakfast matchup at 10:00 a.m. The teams have met only twice in history prior to this tournament, with the Broncos wining both matches. Most recently, Western Michigan defeated The Hall, 3-1, in Kalamazoo on Sept. 3, 2011. Western Michigan is coming off a 15-18 season.

Finally, the Pirates will wrap up the tournament with a match against Cleveland State at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday. This will be the first-ever meeting between the teams. The Vikings had a strong season in 2015. They finished with an overall record of 26-7, won the Horizon League Championship and qualified for the NCAA Tournament, losing in four sets at USC in the first round.

SETON HALL NOTES
FOURNIER NAMED PRESEASON ALL-BIG EAST
Senior Tessa Fournier was unanimously named to the 2016 Preseason All-BIG EAST Team. A three-time AVCA All-Region honoree, Fournier was named BIG EAST Libero of the Year for a second consecutive season in 2015, and led the BIG EAST in both digs (583) and digs per set (5.16).

FREE PIRATES SPORTS NETWORK
For the first time ever, all live events on the Pirates Sports Network (PSN) will be carried free of charge on SHUpirates.com. You can now see all 12 home volleyball contests live from Walsh Gym in 2016 for free.

PRESEASON POLL
Seton Hall was picked seventh in this year's BIG EAST Preseason Coaches' Poll. Creighton was the unanimous conference favorite, followed by Marquette and Xavier. The Pirates have outplayed their expectations in each of the last two seasons under head coach Allison Yaeger. In 2014, The Hall was picked to finish sixth, but placed second. In 2015, they were picked sixth, but finished fifth.

VOLLEYBALL ON BEDN
Seton Hall will have two regular season matches broadcast on the BIG EAST Digital Network, a Nov. 12 date at Marquette followed by a Nov. 19 home game vs. St. John's. Should the Pirates qualify for the BIG EAST Championship, the semifinal round will also be carried on BEDN.

FOURNIER APPROACHING SECOND
Senior Tessa Fournier needs 341 digs to pass current assistant coach Allie Matters for second on Seton Hall's career digs list. Former teammate Alyssa Warren is the Pirates' all-time leader with 2,381.

FOLLOW @SHUVOLLEY ON TWITTER
For inside info, pictures, and in-match updates, follow the SHU volleyball program on Twitter @SHUVolley.

AVCA TEAM ACADEMIC AWARD
Seton Hall was one of six BIG EAST volleyball programs that received a 2016 American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award. The award honors collegiate and high school volleyball teams that displayed excellence in the classroom during the school year by maintaining at least a 3.30 cumulative team grade-point average.

CLIMBING THE LIST
Sophomore Sophia Coffey became only the 10th player in Seton Hall history with 1,000 career assists last season. She needs just 120 more to pass Nicole Harguindeguy for ninth on the all-time list.

PIRATES ADD FIVE
In 2016, Seton Hall is welcoming five newcomers to the roster. Eligible to begin play this fall are freshmen Maggie Cvelbar, Haylee Gasser and Madison Salkowski. Junior walk-on Brooke Flores also joins the team, as does junior transfer Dominique Mason.

SEEKING HISTORY
This season, Tessa Fournier is looking to become only the second player in BIG EAST history to be named BIG EAST Libero of the Year three times. St. John's Lena Yee won the award from 2006-08. Fournier has won it each of the last two seasons.

NEW LOCATION FOR BIG EAST CHAMPIONSHIP
The 2016 BIG EAST Volleyball Championship will be conducted Nov. 25-26 in Indianapolis, Ind. The top four teams, based on regular-season conference records, will qualify for the event and will be seeded according to their finish in the league standings. The 35th annual championship will be hosted by Butler University at Hinkle Fieldhouse. The champion receives the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship.