Pirates Face Big Matches vs. Butler, Xavier at Walsh

Friday, November 17

South Orange, N.J.

7:00 PM

Seton Hall University

Butler

Pirates Face Big Matches vs. Butler, Xavier at Walsh

11/16/2017 10:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

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South Orange, N.J. – Walsh Gymnasium

BUTLER (21-7, 11-5) at SETON HALL (16-13, 10-6)

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Friday, Nov. 17

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South Orange, N.J. – Walsh Gymnasium

XAVIER (11-19, 6-10) at SETON HALL (16-13, 10-6)

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Saturday, Nov. 18

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PREVIEW
Seton Hall will return home to Walsh Gymnasium this weekend to wrap up the 2017 regular season. On Friday, the Pirates will host Butler in a matchup of the current third and fourth place teams in the BIG EAST Conference. Match time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m., and the game will be broadcasted by the BIG EAST Digital Network, presented by SoFi, via the Fox Sports Go app free of charge.

On Saturday, Seton Hall will celebrate "Senior Night" when it hosts Xavier in the regular season finale. That match will also start at 7:00 p.m. and will be shown via the Pirate Sports Network. Senior Night festivities celebrating the careers of Sarah Kenneweg (Poolesville, Md.), Dominique Mason (Chicago, Ill.) and Sharay Barnes (Swarthmore, Pa.) will commence following the match.

LAST WEEKEND
Seton Hall had only one match last weekend, but it was an important one. The Pirates defeated St. John's, in Queens, in four sets, guaranteeing that they will finish above the Red Storm in the final BIG EAST standings. The victory gave The Hall a season sweep of St. John's and provided it with its third-ever 10-win season in conference play.

Five Pirates finished in double-figures in kills, led by Mason who finished with a double-double with 15 kills and 13 digs. Junior Caitlin Koska (Franklin, Wis.) had a strong match on both offense and defense, finishing with 12 kills, only one attack error and a .367 attack percentage. Defensively, she had five blocks and two digs. Junior Sophia Coffey (Sierra Madre, Calif.) also had a double-double with 27 assists and 10 digs.

For her efforts, Koska was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll.

PLAYOFF PICTURE
Only the top four teams in the final BIG EAST Conference standings will advance to the BIG EAST Championship in Milwaukee, Wis., Nov. 24-25. With Creighton and Marquette having already clinched a spot, there are three others vying for the remaining two spots, Butler, Seton Hall and Villanova.

Team	Record	Games Left	Nov. 17	Nov. 18
Butler	11-5	2	at Seton Hall	at St. John's
SETON HALL	10-6	2	Butler	Xavier
Villanova	9-7	2	Creighton	Providence

Head-to-Head Tie-breakers

1. head-to-head match results this season
2. sets won in the two matches
3. points won in the two matches

Villanova has the head-to-head tie-breaker over Seton Hall by virtue of the third tie-breaker, head-to-head points. The tie-breaker for Seton Hall and Butler will come down to Friday night. The Pirates need to sweep Butler, and do so by significant point margins each set in order to win the tie-breaker over the Bulldogs. Butler swept Seton Hall back on Oct. 7.

If more than two teams are tied in the final standings, the teams will be viewed in a mini-conference and their total records against each other will be factored. As soon as one team breaks the tie, the tie-breaking procedure starts over.

Bottom line, Seton Hall controls its own destiny this weekend. If it wins both matches, it will clinch a berth in the BIG EAST Championship for the third time in the last four years, regardless of how Villanova performs this weekend. If the Pirates split their two matches, they will still clinch provided Villanova doesn't win both of its matches this weekend. If The Hall goes 0-2 this weekend, the only way they'll clinch is if the Wildcats also go 0-2.

SCOUTING BUTLER
Seton Hall and Butler will face off for the 10^th time in history on Friday. The Pirates have won five of the prior nine meetings, but were swept in Indianapolis earlier this season.

On Oct. 7, Seton Hall reached at least 20 points in all three sets, but were swept by Butler at Hinkle Field House. Koska had a team-high 13 kills, with only three attack errors and a .435 attack percentage. Sophomore Maggie Cvelbar (Euclid, Ohio) had a double-double with 15 assists and a team-high 11 digs in only three sets. Junior Abby Thelen (Ft. Mitchell, Ky.) had 11 kills.

Butler enters the match with an impressive 21-7 overall record and an 11-5 mark in BIG EAST Conference play. The Bulldogs can clinch a berth in the 2017 BIG EAST Championship with a win over Seton Hall and will guarantee no worse than a third place finish.

The Bulldogs had won seven straight matches before falling to No. 14 Creighton on Sunday in five sets. Butler might have defeated the Bluejays if they didn't lose an epic second set, 38-36. On Saturday, Butler swept Providence in Indianapolis. The Bulldogs are 5-4 on the road so far this season.

SCOUTING XAVIER
Seton Hall and Xavier will meet for only the 10^th time in history on Saturday. The Musketeers have won six of the prior nine meetings, but Seton Hall swept them earlier this season.

The Pirates will be going for their first season sweep of Xavier when they meet on Saturday. Back on Oct. 6, The Hall won a close battle in Cincinnati in three sets. Koska erupted for 14 kills and a .306 attack percentage to lead the Pirate offense. Thelen finished with 11 kills.

Xavier enters the weekend with an 11-19 overall record and a 6-10 mark in BIG EAST Conference play. The Musketeers have played better over the last few weekends. After starting the season with a 2-8 record in conference, Xavier has won four of its last six BIG EAST matches. Last weekend, they fell in straight sets to No. 14 Creighton on Saturday, but bounced back to defeat Providence in four sets on Sunday.