Pirates Head to Thunderdome Classic This Weekend

2018 THUNDERDOME CLASSIC
Santa Barbara, California – The Thunderdome

SETON HALL (3-3) vs. SACRED HEART (4-1)

Date

Time

Live Video

Live Audio

Live Stats

Twitter

Friday,
Sept. 7

6:00 PM ET

BigWest.tv

None

LIVE STATS

@SHUVolley

SETON HALL (3-3) vs. TEXAS TECH (6-2)

Date

Time

Live Video

Live Audio

Live Stats

Twitter

Saturday,
Sept. 8

1:00 PM ET

BigWest.tv

None

LIVE STATS

@SHUVolley

SETON HALL (3-3) at UC SANTA BARBARA (3-3)

Date

Time

Live Video

Live Audio

Live Stats

Twitter

Saturday,
Sept. 8

10:00 PM ET

BigWest.tv

None

LIVE STATS

@SHUVolley

PREVIEW
The Pirates will return to action this weekend and make their 2018 regular season home debut with three matches as part of the Seton Hall Classic. The Hall will host VCU, Pittsburgh and Oklahoma to South Orange. The Pirates will face VCU on Friday at 7:00 p.m. They'll take on Pittsburgh on Saturday at 10:00 a.m. before playing Oklahoma in the tournament finale at 7:00 p.m. All three contests will be available free of charge on the Pirate Sports Network.

LAST WEEKEND
The Pirates hosted the Seton Hall Classic last weekend in Walsh Gym, one of the most-competitive events they've played in recent memory. The event featured two defending conference champions, and a vastly improved team with a new coach. The Hall edged Atlantic-10 favorite VCU in five sets on Friday, but fell to No. 14 Pittsburgh and up-and-comer Oklahoma in straight sets on Saturday.

Senior Abby Thelen (Ft. Mitchell, Ky.) again led the Pirates in kills in all three contests, and for her efforts, was named to the Seton Hall Classic All-Tournament Team.

Also of note, freshman Emilee Turner (Kaysville, Utah) had a career-high 15 kills and only one attack error in the victory over VCU. Both Caitlin Koska (Frankliin, Wis.) and Maggie Cvelbar (Euclid, Ohio) recorded double-doubles over the weekend. Freshman Eden Dolezal (La Porte, Ind.) had a career-high 23 digs in only three sets against Oklahoma.

SCOUTING SACRED HEART
Seton Hall and Sacred heart have met only three other times in history, with the Pirates prevailing in all three. They haven't met however, since 2009, a four-set Pirate victory at the Rose Hill Classic.

The Pioneers are coming off a 12-15 season in 2017, and did not qualify for the NEC Tournament.

This season however, Sacred Heart has won four of its first five matches, and enter the weekend having won three straight. Their lone setback in 2018 was a four-set loss at Boston College on Aug. 25. Last weekend, Sacred Heart won a pair of contests, defeating Harford in five sets on Friday and Quinnipiac in four sets on Saturday.

The Pioneers have been tabbed to finish fifth this season in the eight-team NEC by the conference coaches in the preseason poll. Head coach Rob Machan returns for his 11th season at the helm and returns 13 letterwinners returning from last season's squad, including All-NEC Second Team selection Makayla Dole.

SCOUTING TEXAS TECH
This will be the first-ever meeting between Seton Hall and Texas Tech on the volleyball court.

The Red Raiders are coming off a 19-15 season in 2017, their first winning season since 2001, and made a deep run in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship. Texas Tech won four matches in the new season-ending tournament, before falling to Mississippi in Oxford in the title match.

This season, Texas Tech has continued its winning ways, compiling a 6-2 record entering this weekend. Their losses have come against steep competition, dropping a three-set match to Georgia and a five-set marathon on Monday at Long Beach State. Last weekend, the Red Raiders won two of three contests at the UCI/Adidas Invitational, hosted by UC Irvine. They lost to Georgia, but then bounced back to sweep CSU Bakersfield and defeat UC Irvine in four sets.

Texas Tech was picked to finish seventh in the nine-team Big 12 Conference by the league coaches in its annual preseason poll. Senior Missy Owens was named to the Preseason All-Big 12 Team.

SCOUTING UC SANTA BARBARA
After facing Texas Tech for the first time ever, the Pirates will face host UC Santa Barbara for the first time as well.

The Gauchos are coming off a tough season in 2017, finishing with an 8-20 overall record.

This season, UC Santa Barbara enters the weekend with a 3-3 record. They are coming off a 1-2 showing at the Denver Classic last weekend. The Gauchos fell to the tournament host on Friday in five sets before losing to Sacramento State in straight sets on Saturday. UC Santa Barbara salvaged the final match of the event with a four-set victory over McNeese State on Saturday.

UC Santa Barbara was selected to finish fifth in the nine-team Big West Conference by the league coaches in the preseason poll. Among those returning for the Gauchos in 2018 is All-America selection Lindsey Ruddings. The redshirt junior led the nation last year with an incredible 5.84 kills per set.