Pirates Set for Three Matches at Rutgers Invite

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2016
** RUTGERS INVITATIONAL **
SETON HALL (5-5) vs. SEATTLE (5-5)
College Avenue Gym – Piscataway, N.J.
10:00 a.m. ET
Live Stats | Twitter

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2016
** RUTGERS INVITATIONAL **
SETON HALL (5-5) vs. PRINCETON (3-3)
College Avenue Gym – Piscataway, N.J.
4:00 p.m. ET
Live Stats | Twitter

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2016
** RUTGERS INVITATIONAL **
SETON HALL (5-5) at RUTGERS (4-6)
College Avenue Gym – Piscataway, N.J.
9:30 a.m. ET
Live Video | Live Stats | Twitter

PREVIEW
Seton Hall will return to action this weekend with a trio of contests at the Rutgers Invitational in Piscataway, N.J. The Pirates will face Seattle University at 10:00 a.m., followed by Princeton at 4:00 p.m., both on Friday. On Saturday, The Hall will face host Rutgers at 9:30 a.m. All three games will have live stats on ScarletKnights.com, but only Saturday's contest will have a live video stream (Big Ten Network Plus).

Last weekend, Seton Hall claimed the title of the Blue Raider Bash, hosted by Middle Tennessee State in Murfreesboro, Tenn. The Pirates defeated Illinois State in four sets before sweeping Tennessee Tech on Friday. On Saturday, The Hall completed the perfect trip by sweeping host MTSU. For her efforts over the weekend, sophomore Abby Thelen was named to the BIG EAST Volleyball Weekly Honor Roll.

On Tuesday, Seton Hall's five-match win streak came to an end with a very hard-fought five-set loss at Hofstra.

Seton Hall will begin the weekend vs. Seattle University at 10:00 a.m. on Friday. It will be the first meeting in history between the two programs. The RedHawks enter the weekend with a 5-5 record. Last weekend, they dropped two of three matches at the Holiday Inn Orlando East UCF Area Classic. Their lone victory was of the five-set variety against Florida Atlantic. Seattle lost to both LSU in four sets and Central Florida in straight sets. The RedHawks have already played a very strong schedule, which includes a four-set victory over BIG EAST foe Villanova.

Later on Friday, the Pirates will take on Princeton, which is scheduled for a 4:00 p.m. Seton Hall is 6-5 in 11 all-time contests against Princeton. Most recently, The Hall swept the Tigers in Princeton on Sept. 17, 2013. The Tigers enter the weekend with a 3-3 record. Last weekend, they dropped two of three matches at the Georgetown Classic, with their lone victory coming in five sets against the host Hoyas. The Tigers lost to Towson in straight sets and Maryland in five sets.

Finally, The Hall will face host Rutgers on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. Rutgers has a slim 16-15 all-time lead in the series, but has lost the last three matches to the Pirates. Most recently, Seton Hall swept the Scarlet Knights on Sept. 6, 2014 in Walsh Gym. Rutgers enters the weekend with a 4-6 record, having lost their last five matches. Last weekend, they lost in straight sets against both Cleveland State and Temple, and dropped a four-set decision to New Hampshire at the Temple Invitational.

SETON HALL NOTES
SETON HALL FALLS AT HOFSTRA IN FIVE
The Pirates saw their five-match win streak come to an end in a hard-fought five-set loss at Hofstra on Tuesday. The teams combined for 38 ties and 18 lead changes during the match. Four Pirates recorded at least 12 kills, with Dani Schroeder leading the way with 13.

PIRATES WIN BLUE RAIDER BASH
Seton Hall lost only one set over the three matches of the Blue Raider Bash, defeating Illinois State in four sets and sweeping both Tennessee Tech and host Middle Tennessee State. It is Seton Hall's first road tournament championship since winning the Carmichel Invitational at Rhode Island in 2012.

HONOR ROLL FOR THELEN
Sophomore Abby Thelen was named to the BIG EAST Volleyball Weekly Honor Roll on Monday. The outside hitter was dominant on Friday vs. Illinois State, recording a career-high 18 kills to go with seven digs and three blocks.

DOMINIQUE DOMINATES
Junior transfer Dominique Mason broke out at the Blue Raider Bash. She recorded a match-high 13 kills to go with six digs and a .407 attack percentage in only two sets vs. Tennessee Tech. The next day, Mason notched a team-best eight kills along with six digs vs. Middle Tennessee State. On Tuesday, she had 12 kills at Hofstra.

SETTING THE TONE
Seton Hall is 5-0 this season when winning the first set. Conversely, they're 0-5 when losing the first set. Despite the 5-5 record, the Pirates have played very well in the first set this season as a whole. Four of their first set losses have come by a score of 25-23. On Tuesday, they lost the first set, 25-22.

CLIMBING THE LIST
During the Seton Hall Classic, Sophia Coffey passed Nicole Harguindeguy into ninth on Seton Hall's career assists list. She needs just 137 more to pass Nichole Bushroe for eighth on the all-time list.

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 220 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.