Pirates Open BIG EAST Play at Marquette, DePaul This Weekend

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – Al McGuire Center

SETON HALL (5-9, 0-0) at MARQUETTE (11-2, 1-0)

Date

Time

Live Video

Live Audio

Live Stats

Twitter

Friday,
Sept. 27

8:00 PM ET

Golden Eagles
All-Access

None

LIVE STATS

@SHUVolley

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – McGrath-Phillips Arena

SETON HALL (5-9, 0-0) at DE PAUL (8-5, 0-1)

Date

Time

Live Video

Live Audio

Live Stats

Twitter

Saturday,
Sept. 28

7:00 PM ET

DePaul
All-Access

None

LIVE STATS

@SHUVolley

PREVIEW
Seton Hall will begin BIG EAST Conference play this weekend when it heads to the Midwest for matches at Marquette and DePaul. The weekend begins with a contest in Milwaukee on Friday against the preseason BIG EAST favorite Golden Eagles. The match begins at 8:00 p.m. ET and will have a live video stream via Golden Eagles All-Access.

LAST WEEKEND
Seton Hall won two of three matches at the George Mason Invitational last weekend in Fairfax, Va. Senior Maggie Cvelbar (Euclid, Ohio) had a double-double as the Pirates swept William & Mary, 3-0 (25-18, 25-22, 26-24), to open the George Mason Invitational on Friday. Cvelbar recorded a match-high 28 assists to go with 11 digs, two kills and two blocks in a strong all-around match. Offensively, Haylee Gasser (Mission Viejo, Calif.), Reece Koehler (Stillwater, Minn.) and Emilee Turner (Kaysville, Utah) combined for 24 kills and only three attack errors.

Both Turner and Amanda Rachwal (Bethlehem, Pa.) registered career-highs in kills as The Hall defeated George Mason, 3-1 (25-23, 25-21, 15-25, 25-18), early on Saturday. Turner, Rachwal and Julia Wilkins (Mason, Ohio) combined for 38 kills and only three attack errors. Turner had a career-high 15 kills, with just two attack errors, and three blocks. Rachwal had a career-high 13 kills, zero attack errors, three blocks and a .667 attack percentage. Wilkins had 10 kills, only one attack error, three blocks and nine digs. Cvelbar also had a huge match, erupting for a career-high 48 assists to go with 13 digs for her second straight double-double.

Rachwal had seven kills and seven blocks, while Cvelbar tallied her third double-double of the tournament, but the Pirates fell to Wake Forest, 3-1 (22-25, 19-25, 25-20, 15-25), on Saturday in the event's finale. Rachwal was equally impressive on offense and defense, totaling seven kills with no attack errors, and a .412 attack percentage. On defense, she tallied a career-high seven blocks to go with three digs. Cvelbar registered a team-best 33 assists to go with a season-high 17 digs. She also had three blocks.

For her efforts last week, Rachwal was named to the George Mason Invitational All-Tournament Team and earned BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll status.

SCOUTING MARQUETTE
Seton Hall and Marquette will open BIG EAST Conference play with one another this season. The Golden Eagles have dominated the all-time series, having won 16 of the prior 21 meetings. Last year, the teams only met once due to poor weather limiting travel late in the year. The result was a 3-0 Marquette sweep in Milwaukee on Oct. 13.

Marquette is coming off one of its most-successful campaigns in program history. In 2018, the Golden Eagles finished with a 28-7 overall record and made it to the title game of the BIG EAST Championship before falling to Creighton in four sets. They did, however, earn an at large bid to the NCAA Tournament, and defeated both High Point and Cincinnati before falling to No. 3 Illinois in the Sweet 16.

This season, Marquette was picked to win the BIG EAST per the preseason coaches poll, while outside hitter Allie Barber was named preseason Player of the Year. She currently leads the BIG EAST with 4.71 kills per set. Juniors Martha Konovodoff and Hope Werch were also named to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team. The Golden Eagles finished their non-conference with a 10-2 record with their only losses coming to No. 17 Baylor and No. 19 Illinois. Among their victories was a four-set win over No. 9 Brigham Young and a five-set win over No. 4 Wisconsin.

On Wednesday, the Golden Eagles opened BIG EAST play with a three-set sweep of Butler in Milwaukee.

SCOUTING DE PAUL
Seton Hall and DePaul will meet for the 21^st time in history on Saturday with the Pirates owning a commanding 19-1 all-time series lead. DePaul's only victory in the series came in 2016, since The Hall has won five straight matches. Last year, the Pirates swept both home-and-home meetings.

DePaul is coming off a rough 5-24 season in 2018, and had a 3-15 mark in BIG EAST play.

This season, DePaul was picked to improve, chosen to finish seventh in the BIG EAST Preseason Coaches Poll. Senior Brittany Maxwell was named to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team. The Blue Demons enter the weekend with a 8-5 record. They opened BIG EAST play on Wednesday against Xavier in Chicago and fell to the Musketeers in five sets. Junior Isabelle Banez recorded a career-high 37 digs in the loss.