Pirates Drop BIG EAST Home Opener To Butler

Friday, September 21

South Orange, N.J.

7:00 PM

Seton Hall University

5-10

Butler

4-9

Butler

Seton Hall

9/21/2018 9:41:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score HOME INFO BOX SCORE

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – Senior Sophia Coffey (Sierra Madre, Calif.) had 16 assists and five digs, but the Seton Hall women's volleyball team dropped their BIG EAST home opener to Butler, 3-0 (13-25, 24-26, 20-25), on Friday.

Senior Caitlin Koska (Franklin, Wis.) led the Pirates offensively with nine kills. Senior Miranda Higginbotham (Dallas, Texas) had a team-best seven digs.

SET 1:
The Bulldogs led the first set wire-to-wire, scoring the first four points to set the tone early. Leading 5-3, Butler went on a 12-2 run to grab a commanding 17-5 advantage, and never looked back. Butler went on to win the opening set, 25-13, hitting .367 for the set, and limiting the Pirates to just .057.

SET 2:
Seton Hall roared back in the second set, which was clearly the closest of the match. The Pirates scored six of the first eight points, and a kill by Abby Thelen (Ft. Mitchell, Ky.) put them on top, 6-2. Leading 11-8, The Hall scored four straight points, and back-to-back service aces by freshman Emilee Turner (Kaysville, Utah) extended their advantage to a match-best 15-8. A kill by Turner put The Hall up 21-16, but Butler rallied with an 8-2 run that put them in set point, 24-23. Another Turner kill tied the set at 24, but consecutive Bulldog blocks ended the set in their favor, 26-24.

SET 3:
A kill by Thelen put the Pirates up early, 7-3, in set three. Butler responded with a 9-1 run to take a 12-8 advantage, and never trailed again. A kill by Haylee Gasser (Mission Viejo, Calif.) cut the Pirate deficit to three, 20-17, but Butler was able to hold on for a 25-20 victory.

Check out this epic point won by The Hall... several BIG digs in this one. Timeout Butler. Pirates trail, 19-15, in set three.#HALLin pic.twitter.com/w0zOaL58Rd
— SHU Volleyball (@SHUVolley) September 22, 2018

Inside the Numbers:

Coffey finished with a team-high 16 assists, five digs and three kills.
Koska had a team-high nine kills and five digs.
Gasser had six kills, only two attack errors, two blocks and two digs.
Higginbotham had a team-high seven digs.
Seton Hall recorded a .313 attack percentage for the match, while Butler attacked at .143.
The Hall had 34 team kills, while the Bulldogs had 45.
The Pirates totaled 37 team digs, while Butler had 47.

News & Notes:

Seton Hall falls to 5-10 overall and 0-2 in the BIG EAST, while Butler improves to 4-9 overall and 1-0 in conference play.
The Pirates are now 5-6 all-time against Butler.
The Pirates fall to 3-5 in three-set matches.

Up Next:
The Pirates will return to action on tomorrow when they host BIG EAST rival Xavier at Walsh Gym. Match time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.