Pirates Open Season at Oklahoma Invitational

Friday, August 25

Norman, OK

8:00 PM

Seton Hall University

Oklahoma

8/24/2017 4:05:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

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August 25-26, 2017
** OKLAHOMA INVITATIONAL **
Norman, Okla. – McCasland Field House

SETON HALL (0-0) vs. OKLAHOMA (0-0)

Date

Time

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Twitter

Friday, August 25

8:00 PM ET

SoonerSports.com

None

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@SHUVolley

SETON HALL (0-0) vs. COLORADO (0-0)

Date

Time

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Saturday, August 26

11:00 AM ET

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SETON HALL (0-0) vs. NORTHWESTERN STATE (0-0)

Date

Time

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Saturday, August 26

5:30 PM ET

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PREVIEW
The 2017 season will begin this weekend for the Seton Hall women's volleyball team. The Pirates will face a trio of opponents at the Oklahoma Invitational in Norman, Okla. The Hall will open the regular season on Friday against the tournament hosts at 8:00 pm ET. On Saturday, the Pirates will play a pair of games, facing Colorado at 11:00 am ET and then Northwestern State at 5:30 pm ET.

Seton Hall has faced Oklahoma only one other time in program history, and it will face the Sooners again, exactly 10 years to the day of their first meeting, a 3-0 loss at the Sooner Legends Classic on Aug. 25, 2007. Current assistant coach Allie Matters was a sophomore on that Pirate team.

The Pirates have never faced Colorado or Northwestern State.

Seton Hall is coming off a successful 2016 campaign that saw a return to the BIG EAST Championship tournament and a 10-8 BIG EAST record, the second-most conference wins in program history. The Pirates return largely the same team, but lost two all-conference players to graduation, Tessa Fournier and Dani Schroeder.

The Hall hopes the addition of four newcomers will help offset the loss of Fournier and Schroeder, as well the maturation of what is now a veteran Pirate roster.

DEFENSIVE SPECIALIST / LIBERO

It's not easy to graduate arguably the greatest defensive player in program history and expect to still have a strong back row, but the Pirates believe they have a deep defensive returning core that was bolstered with two additions. Senior Sarah Kenneweg (Poolesville, Md.) is expected to take over as the starting libero. After three years backing up Fournier and exceling on the Pirates' back line, the lone four-year Pirate was named a team captain. Kenneweg has played in 96 percent of Seton Hall's matches over the last three years and has amassed more than 600 career digs.

Junior Miranda Higginbotham (Dallas, Texas) may also see time at libero, and will certainly see time on the back line for the Pirates. She has played in 134 sets over the last two seasons and has 20 service aces to her credit.

Adding to the Pirates depth are freshmen Catherine Cruz (San Antonio, Texas) and Elizabeth Sottung (Westfield, N.J.).

SETTER

The Pirates primary setter over the last two years has been junior Sophia Coffey (Sierra Madre, Calif.). Coffey has played in every match since arriving in South Orange and has finished no worse than ninth in the BIG EAST in assists and assists per set in each of her first two seasons. She has led The Hall in double-doubles the last two years and currently ranks eighth on the Pirates all-time assists list.

With The Hall possibly playing with a 6-2 rotation, expect to see more of setter Maggie Cvelbar (Euclid, Ohio). The sophomore played in 28 matches last year and ranked second on the team in both assists and assists per set.

MIDDLE

Manning the middle for the Pirates last year were a pair of freshman, but now Haylee Gasser (Mission Viejo, Calif.) and Madison Salkowski (Cold Spring, Ky.) have a year under their belts and should take a major step forward in 2017.

Gasser didn't miss a single set in 2016 and led the Pirates, while ranking eighth in the BIG EAST, with 104 total blocks. She also proved to be more than competent offensively, reaching double-figures in kills four times.

Salkowski posted a team-best .305 attack percentage and notched 83 total blocks, second only to Gasser on the Pirates.

Joining the Pirate middle will be freshman Amanda Rachwal (Bethlehem, Pa.). The 6-foot-2 addition was a two-time All-State selection and showed plenty of offense and defense in high school.

OUTSIDE

The Pirates lost Schroeder, but gained graduate transfer Sharay Barnes (Swarthmore, Pa.) for the season. Barnes transferred from the University of Kentucky and will provide another tall, strong presence on the right side.

Perhaps the Pirates' biggest offensive threat will be senior Dominique Mason (Chicago, Ill.). Mason was a junior college transfer last season, and took the BIG EAST by storm, particularly later in the season. The outside hitter led the Pirates with 3.28 kills per set in conference matches and ranked 10^th in the BIG EAST. She was twice named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll, and her 25 kills at DePaul on Nov. 13 weren't only a season-high for the Pirates, but also tied for the highest mark for a BIG EAST player in a four-set match all season.

Junior Abby Thelen (Ft. Mitchell, Ky.) made a successful transfer from the middle to the outside last season and averaged more than three kills per set. She was twice named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll and was named conference Player of the Week on Oct. 24. Thelen collected at least 15 kills in a match nine times, which led the Pirates.

Juniors Cherise Hennigan (Corona, Calif.) and Caitlin Koska (Franklin, Wis.) will again serve as talented depth for the Pirates on the outside. Hennigan has played in 55 matches over the last two years, collecting nearly 500 kills. Koska took a major step forward in 2016, improving her kills per set average by more than a full kill.