Thelen, Pirates Outlast Georgetown in Five Sets

Saturday, November 4

Washington, DC

6:00 PM

Seton Hall University

15-13, 9-6BIG EAST

Georgetown

7-19, 1-13BIG EAST

Seton Hall

Georgetown

11/4/2017 8:42:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Junior Abby Thelen (Ft. Mitchell, Ky.) had a team-high 17 kills as the Seton Hall women's volleyball team outlasted Georgetown in five sets, 3-2 (20-25, 25-17, 25-17, 18-25, 15-9), on Saturday.

Seton Hall was able to overcome a first set loss to improve to 9-6 in BIG EAST Conference play and remain in the thick of the race to qualify for the BIG EAST Championship. It's only the fourth time this season that the Pirates have won despite dropping the first set.

SET 1:
The first set was close, featuring nine ties and seven lead changes until Georgetown pulled away late. With the score tied at 18, the Hoyas closed the set on a 7-2 run to win, 25-20. Thelen led The Hall with six kills. The Pirates fell despite having an attack percentage of .321. Georgetown however, had an astounding .485 attack percentage in the opening frame

SET 2:
Seton Hall struck back in convincing fashion in set two, winning wire-to-wire. The set started with the Pirates scoring the first four points, and their lead ballooned to six points, 12-6, on a kill by Haylee Gasser (Mission Viejo, Calif.). The Hoyas cut the Pirate lead to 19-16, but The Hall responded by finishing the set on a 6-1 run. A kill by Thelen capped a 25-17 victory to tie the match at one apiece.

SET 3:
The Pirates kept up the pressure in set three. With the score tied at seven, Seton Hall went on an 8-1 run, and an ace by Dominique Mason (Chicago, Ill.) gave it a 15-8 lead and prompted a Georgetown timeout. After the Hoyas responded with two points, the Pirates burst out for four more unanswered to take a commanding 19-10 advantage. The Hall went on to a 25-17 set three victory. The Pirates had 15 kills and only one attack error in the third set for an impressive .519 attack percentage.

SET 4:
With their backs against the wall, Georgetown rebounded in the fourth set. With the set tied at three, the Hoyas scored five of the next six points to take the lead for good. The Georgetown advantage eventually grew to as many as eight points in route to a 25-18 win to tie the match at two sets apiece.

SET 5:
Seton Hall never trailed in the decisive fifth set. With the score tied at two, the Pirates tallied three straight points, and an ace by Miranda Higginbotham (Dallas, Texas) put them in front, 5-2. The Hall was in front 8-5 when the teams switched sides, and that lead extended to 10-5 after back-to-back kills by Thelen and Caitlin Koska (Franklin, Wis.). Georgetown cut the Pirate lead to 10-8, but Seton Hall ended the match with a 5-1 run. Thelen's fourth kill of the set provided Seton Hall with a 15-9 set five win.

Inside the Numbers:

Mason had a double-double with 10 kills and 12 digs.
Koska finished with 11 kills and only three attack errors.
Senior Sarah Kenneweg (Poolesville, Md.) had a match-high 16 digs to go with six assists.
Junior Sophia Coffey (Sierra Madre, Calif.) missed a double-double by only one dig, finishing with 19 assists and nine digs.
Sophomore Madison Salkowski (Cold Spring, Ky.) recorded season-highs of five kills and five blocks.
Seton Hall recorded a .247 attack percentage for the match, while Georgetown attacked at .271.
The Hall had 53 team kills, while Georgetown had 65.
The Pirates totaled 58 team digs, while Georgetown had 61.

News & Notes:

Seton Hall improves to 15-13 overall and 9-6 in the BIG EAST.
Georgetown falls to 7-18 overall and 1-12 in the BIG EAST.
The Pirates improve to 6-6 on the road this season.
Kenneweg needs just 12 digs to enter Seton Hall's career top-10. With 16 digs tonight, she has 1,060 for her career. Former Pirate Caroline Kaufmann is 10^th with 1,071.
Thelen reached the 15-kill mark for the 13th time this season and the 22nd time in her career.
Mason's double-double is her seventh of the season and the seventh of her career.
Coffey played in her 89^th consecutive match, which leads all active Pirates.
The Pirates improve to 17-22 all-time against Georgetown.
Seton Hall is now 4-4 in five-set matches this season.

Up Next:
The Pirates will return to action on Saturday, November 11 when they travel to nearby Queens, N.Y. for a contest against St. John's. Match time is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.