Pirates Outlast Providence in Five-Set Thriller

Friday, October 1

South Orange, N.J.

6:00 PM

Seton Hall University

9-8,1-2Big East

Providence

12-4,0-3Big East

Providence

Seton Hall

10/1/2021 10:29:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score HOME BOX SCORE (.pdf)

Perri Lucas goes for 17 kills, while both Taylor Jakubowski and Anna Holland net double-doubles.

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – Sophomore Perri Lucas (Chicago, Ill.) had a season-high 17 kills and both Taylor Jakubowski (Lake in the Hills, Ill.) and Anna Holland (Waukesha, Wis.) had double-doubles as the Seton Hall women's volleyball team outlasted Providence, 3-2 (25-18, 25-19, 22-25, 26-28, 15-13), on Friday.

The Pirates dominated the first two sets, but Providence rallied to win set three and a long fourth set, 28-26, to tie the match and force a decisive fifth set. Despite trailing 12-10 in the fifth, The Hall bounced back to edge the Friars, 15-13, to win its first BIG EAST match of the season.

Lucas was the driving force offensively for the Pirates, collecting 17 kills, only three attack errors, a .359 attack percentage and six digs. Jakubowski had a 20/20 game, registering a season-high 27 assists to go with a career-high 21 digs. Holland tallied 27 digs and 10 assists.

SET 1:
The Seton Hall defense held Providence to a .077 attack percentage in the opening set as they lead from nearly wire-to-wire. The Pirates scored five of the first six points to set the tone early and never looked back. An ace by Cagla Bengi (Bursa, Turkey) gave The Hall its largest lead of the set, 23-13. The Friars cut into the Pirate lead late, but Seton Hall still went on to win easily, 25-18,

SET 2:
Sophomore Tsvetelina Ilieva (Sofia, Bulgaria) broke out with five kills in the second set alone as the Pirates hit a match-best .341 in the second. It was close early, evidenced by 13 ties, but The Hall took control late. Trailing 15-13, the Pirates scored seven of the next eight points, and a kill by Jenna Walsh (Foothill Ranch, Calif.) gave them a 20-16 advantage. A block by Walsh and Amanda Rachwal (Bethlehem, Pa.) put The Hall in set point, 24-19, ad a kill by Ilieva won it.

SET 3:
The third set was a back-and-forth affair that saw seven lead changes. Trailing 16-14, Providence scored four of the next five points to take the lead. A kill by Madeline Matheny (Wilmington, Del.) put The Hall temporarily back on top, 19-18, but the Friars pulled away late. With the score tied at 21, Providence tallied three straight to enter set point. After a Katie Winkler (Troy, Wis.) kill, a Providence put-away ended the third set, 25-22.

SET 4:
The Pirates led for the vast majority of the fourth set, and it appeared as though the match would end in four, but Providence rallied late to force a fifth set. A kill by Ilieva gave The Hall a 23-19 lead, but the Friars rallied with five straight points to enter set point, 24-23. The Pirates were then able to stave off three Providence set points until the Friars were finally able to score back-to-back points with the epic set tied at 26.

SET 5:
The decisive fifth set featured nine ties and five lead changes. Seton Hall scored four of the first six points, but Providence responded with four of the next five to take a 6-5 lead. A kill by Ilieva put The Hall up 9-7, but the Friars battled back again with a 5-1 run to grab a 12-10 advantage and force a Pirate timeout. Out of the break, the Pirates assumed control. Down 13-12, a kill by Lucas tied the set and then back-to-back attack errors by the Friars handed The Hall a 15-13 final set victory.

#SneakySetter pic.twitter.com/DzS7i8XPY8
— Seton Hall Volleyball (@SHUVolley) October 1, 2021

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

Lucas had a season-high 17 kills, only three attack errors, a .359 attack percentage and six digs.
Jakubowski had a season-high 27 assists and a career-high 21 digs.
Holland tallied a game-high 27 digs to go with 10 assists.
Ilieva finished with a season-high 14 kills.
Bengi finished just one dig shy of a double-double, finishing with 19 assists and nine digs.
Senior Madison Frusha (Huntsville, Texas) had a career-high 11 kills to go with nine blocks.
Seton Hall recorded a .287 attack percentage for the match, while Providence attacked at .204.
The Pirates had 68 kills, while Providence recorded 67.
Seton Hall finished with 82 digs, while the Friars had 80.
The Pirates had 10.0 total blocks, while Providence had 5.0.

NEWS & NOTES:

Seton Hall improves to 9-8 overall on the season and claims its first BIG EAST victory (1-2), while Providence falls to 12-4 overall and 0-3 in conference play.
The Pirates are now 20-17 all-time against Providence.
Seton Hall improves to 2-1 this season in five-set matches.
The Pirates had at least 10.0 team blocks for the seventh time this season. They are now 5-2 in those matches.
Seton Hall improves to a perfect 9-0 when it has a higher attack percentage than its opponent.
Jakubowski's double-double is her eighth of the season and the 15^th of her career. Holland's is the second of her young career.
Holland has now reached 20 digs in a single-match four times in her career.
Lucas totaled at least 15 kills for the second time this season and the fifth time of her career.
With nine digs tonight, Bengi reached the 100-dig milestone for her career.
With 27 assists tonight, Jakubowski surpassed the 600-assist milestone for her career.

UP NEXT:
Seton Hall will return to action tomorrow, Saturday, Oct. 2 for a BIG EAST Conference contest against No. 16 Creighton in Walsh Gymnasium. Match time is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. All spectators in attendance must wear a mask, whether vaccinated or unvaccinated while in any indoor location at Seton Hall University.