Pirates Travel To VCU Invitational This Weekend

September 15-16, 2017
** VCU INVITATIONAL **
Richmond, Va. – Stuart C. Siegel Center

SETON HALL (6-4) vs. NORTHWESTERN (8-1)

Date

Time

Live Video

Live Audio

Live Stats

Twitter

Friday, Sept. 15

3:30 PM ET

None

LIVE STATS

@SHUVolley

SETON HALL (6-4) at VCU (10-2)

Date

Time

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Twitter

Saturday, Sept. 16

1:00 PM ET

Ivy League Network

None

LIVE STATS

@SHUVolley

SETON HALL (6-4) vs. BOWLING GREEN (3-5)

Date

Time

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Twitter

Saturday, Sept. 16

4:30 PM ET

None

LIVE STATS

@SHUVolley

PREVIEW
Seton Hall returns to action this weekend when travels to Richmond, Virginia for three matches of the Virginia Commonwealth (VCU) Invitational. The Pirates will open the event against Northwestern on Friday at 3:30 p.m. On Saturday, The Hall will face host VCU at 1:00 p.m., followed by Bowling Green at 4:30 p.m.

LAST WEEKEND
Seton Hall turned in its third straight successful weekend last week at the Redbird Classic, winning two of three matches in Normal, Ill. The Pirates opened the weekend by rallying for a four-set victory over former BIG EAST opponent Cincinnati. Abby Thelen (Ft. Mitchell, Ky.) had a team-high 16 kills, while Sharay Barnes (Swarthmore, Pa.) added 12 kills. The Hall dropped the first set, but won the next three.

On Saturday, the Pirates again came from behind to win, this time in five sets at Illinois State. Down two sets to one, the Hall won set four, 26-24, and then set five, 17-15, to complete the comeback. Thelen and Sophia Coffey (Sierra Madre, Calif.) recorded double-doubles, and four Pirates reached double-figures in digs. In the afternoon, The Hall fell in straight sets to national-power Dayton.

For her efforts over the weekend, Thelen was named to the Redbird Classic All-Tournament Team. She also earned BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll status for a second straight week.

MID-WEEK
The Pirates dropped their second mid-week contest of the season in three sets to Hofstra at Walsh Gym on Tuesday night. Both Thelen and Barnes again reached double-figures in kills, while Coffey notched her sixth double-double of the season.

SCOUTING NORTHWESTERN
The Pirates have never faced Northwestern, but the Wildcats do represent the second Big Ten team The Hall has faced this year. Seton Hall defeated Rutgers in four sets two weeks ago.

Northwestern is coming off a rough season, finishing with a 10-22 overall record with wins in just three of 20 Big Ten Conference matches. This season however, the Wildcats have won eight of their first nine contests and have lost only three sets in their eight victories. Among their wins so far this year is a sweep of Duke, which was receiving votes in the AVCA national poll at the time, and BIG EAST opponent DePaul, which it defeated in four sets.

Northwestern was picked to finish 12^th in the 14-team Big Ten Conference this season.

SCOUTING VCU
This will only be the second all-time meeting between Seton Hall and VCU. The first match occurred on Sept. 4, 2010, a three-set win for the Rams at the Nittany Lion Invitational.

VCU is coming off a 19-14 season, which came to an end with a five-set loss to Dayton in the Atlantic-10 Tournament semifinals. However, their fortunes have also turned around dramatically so far in 2017. The Rams have won 10 of their first 12 matches with their losses coming at Texas A&M and Notre Dame. VCU swept Virginia in Charlottesville last weekend.

VCU was picked to finish second in the Atlantic-10 preseason poll. Last weekend, the Pirates fell in three sets to the A-10 favorite, Dayton.

SCOUTING BOWLING GREEN
This will be the first-ever meeting between Bowling Green and Seton Hall.

Bowling Green is coming off a strong season, finishing with a 21-10 overall record. The Falcons' season came to an end with a four-set loss to Miami (Ohio) in the semifinals of the MAC Tournament. This season, Bowling Green has a record of 3-5, and among the losses was a three-set sweep at the hands of BIG EAST opponent Xavier.

Bowling Green was picked to finish fifth in the six-team East Division of the Mid-American Conference this season. Earlier this season, the Pirates defeated Buffalo, which was picked fourth, in five sets.