Mason, Koska Lead Balanced Effort in Key Road Win

Saturday, November 11

Queens, NY

2:00 PM

Seton Hall University

16-13, 10-6BIG EAST

St. John's

15-16, 7-9BIG EAST

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Seton Hall	28	22	25	25	3
St. John's	26	25	22	21	1

11/11/2017 4:59:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score HOME INFO BOX SCORE

QUEENS, N.Y. – Five Pirates reached double-figures in kills in a balanced offensive effort as the Seton Hall women's volleyball team defeated St. John's in four sets, 3-1 (28-26, 22-25, 25-22, 25-21), on Saturday.

The victory improves the Pirates' record to 10-6 in BIG EAST Conference play. It's the second straight, but only the third time in Seton Hall history that it has reached double-figures in league play. This, despite being picked to finish eighth in the 2017 Preseason Coaches' Poll.

SET 1:
The first set was a grueling, grind-it-out affair with the teams combining for nine ties and five lead changes. Neither team had a lead of greater than three points throughout the opening frame. Trailing 22-20, the Pirates scored four of the next five points to enter set point, 24-23. St. John's rallied however, and entered set point themselves at 25-24 and 26-25. But The Hall didn't relent, and back-to-back kills by Abby Thelen (Ft. Mitchell, Ky.) gave the Pirates the advantage again, 27-26. This time, a St. John's attack error sealed the first set in Seton Hall's favor, 28-26.

SET 2:
Seton Hall kept up the pressure in the early goings of the second set. With the score tied at four, The Hall scored five of the next six points to take a 9-5 advantage. The Red Storm however, rallied and kept the set close the rest of the way. Trailing 22-20, Seton Hall got a kill by Sharay Barnes (Swarthmore, Pa.) and a St. John's attack error to tie the score at 22. But St. John's finished the set with three straight points to tie the match at one set apiece.

SET 3:
With the score tied at six in the third set, Seton Hall went on a 6-1 run, and blocks by Caitlin Koska (Franklin, Wis.) and Madison Salkowski (Cold Spring, Ky.) put it in front 13-7. Although the Pirates grew the lead to as many as eight points, the Red Storm rallied late to tie the set at 21. The Pirates however, scored three of the final four points, and a kill by Thelen gave set three to The Hall, 25-22.

SET 4:
The set was close early on until the Pirates took control. Trailing 10-9, Seton Hall scored four straight, and a kill by Dominique Mason (Chicago, Ill.) gave The Hall a 13-10 lead. The Pirates never trailed again. Another kill by Barnes gave The Hall its largest lead of the set, 23-17, and it went on to complete the four-set win with a 25-21 victory in set four.

Inside the Numbers:

Mason led the Pirates with 15 kills and had 13 digs for a double-double.
Koska had 12 kills, only one attack error, a team-best .367 attack percentage and five blocks.
Thelen finished with 11 kills and four blocks.
Gasser had 10 kills, only two attack errors and five blocks.
Barnes had 10 kills and four digs.
Junior Sophia Coffey (Sierra Madre, Calif.) had a double-double with 27 assists and 10 digs.
Senior Sarah Kenneweg (Poolesville Md.) finished with a team-best 15 digs.
Seton Hall recorded a .267 attack percentage for the match, while St. John's attacked at .255.
The Hall had 63 team kills, while St. John's had 64.
The Pirates totaled 64 team digs, while St. John's had 73.

News & Notes:

Seton Hall improves to 16-13 overall and 10-6 in the BIG EAST.
St. John's falls to 15-16 overall and 7-9 in the BIG EAST.
The Pirates improve to 7-6 on the road this season.
With 15 digs tonight, Kenneweg passed former Pirate Caroline Kaufmann into 10^th place on the Seton Hall career digs list with 1,074.
Mason's double-double is her eighth of the season and the ninth of her career.
Coffey notched her 11^th double-double of the season and the team-leading 29^th of her career.
Coffey played in her 90^th consecutive match, which leads all active Pirates.
Seton Hall improves to 11-0 in matches when it has a higher attack percentage than its opponent.
The Pirates improve to 17-12 all-time against St. John's.
Seton Hall is now 6-1 in four-set matches this season.

Up Next:
The Pirates will return to action on Friday, November 17 when they return to Walsh Gymnasium for the last weekend of play in the regular season. The Hall will host Butler at 7:00 p.m.