Pirates Host Providence, Creighton This Weekend

SOUTH ORANGE, NEW JERSEY - Walsh Gymnasium

SETON HALL (5-11, 0-2) vs. PROVIDENCE (5-10, 0-2)

Date

Time

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Twitter

Friday,
Oct. 4

7:00 PM ET

LIVE STATS

@SHUVolley

SOUTH ORANGE, NEW JERSEY - Walsh Gymnasium

SETON HALL (5-11, 0-2) vs. No. 14 CREIGHTON (9-3, 2-0)

Date

Time

Live Video

Live Audio

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Twitter

Saturday,
Oct. 5

7:00 PM ET

LIVE STATS

@SHUVolley

PREVIEW
Seton Hall will return to the friendly confines of Walsh Gymnasium this weekend with a pair of BIG EAST Conference matches. The Pirates will host Providence on Friday and Creighton on Saturday. Both contests will begin at 7:00 p.m. ET and will be broadcast live by the Pirate Sports Network at SHUpirates.com.

LAST WEEKEND
Last weekend, Seton Hall began BIG EAST Conference play and dropped matches on the road at Marquette and at DePaul. Freshman Julia Wilkins (Mason, Ohio) had a team-high seven kills, and senior Maggie Cvelbar (Euclid, Ohio) finished one dig shy of a double-double, but the Pirates fell in straight sets to Marquette, 3-0 (19-25, 17-25, 13-25), in its BIG EAST Conference opener on Friday.

Wilkins had seven kills to go with two digs, while Cvelbar had a team-best 23 assists and nine digs.

Junior Amanda Rachwal (Bethlehem, Pa.) recorded a career-high 14 kills, but the Pirates fell in four sets at DePaul, 3-1 (25-16, 22-25, 22-25, 22-25), on Saturday. Rachwal had a team-best 14 kills to go with only three attack errors, a .407 attack percentage and two service aces. Cvelbar recorded her fifth double-double of the season with a match-high 34 assists to go with 12 digs.

SCOUTING PROVIDENCE
Seton Hall and Providence will meet for the 33^rd time in history on Friday, with the Pirates owning a slim, 17-15, lead in the all-time series. The Hall has won the last seven matches in the series, including a pair of victories in last year's home-and-home series.

Providence enters the weekend with a 5-10 overall record and an 0-2 mark in BIG EAST Conference play. The Friars have lost six straight including home matches against BIG EAST foes Georgetown and Villanova last weekend. They fell to the Hoyas in five sets and the Wildcats in four.

Providence and Seton Hall have played one common opponent so far this season, George Mason. Seton Hall defeated the Patriots in four sets on Sept. 21, while the Friars swept George Mason back on Sept. 1.

Providence was picked to finish last in the 10-team BIG EAST Conference in the preseason coaches' poll.

SCOUTING CREIGHTON
Seton Hall and Creighton will meet for the 15^th time on Saturday, with the Bluejays owning a commanding 11-3 all-time series record. Creighton has won 10 straight in the series that began with a four-set victory over the Pirates in the 2014 BIG EAST Championship Match. Last season, the Bluejays swept both of the home-and-home contests.

Creighton, the BIG EAST's five-time defending champion, enters the weekend as the No. 14 ranked team in the nation with a 9-3 overall record and a 2-0 mark in conference play. The Bluejays have won 21 straight BIG EAST matches, and are coming off victories last weekend at home against Villanova and Georgetown. The Hoyas however, did manage to get a set off of the champions.

All three of Creighton's losses have come to teams ranked in the nation's Top-20, No. 2 Nebraska, No. 20 Baylor and No. 12 Washington. Among the Bluejays' victories are triumphs over No. 12 Kentucky and No. 15 USC.

The Bluejays were picked to finish second, behind Marquette, in this year's preseason coaches' poll.