Epic Rally Falls Short as Pirates Drop Five-Setter at Xavier

Friday, October 8

Cincinnati, Ohio / Cintas Center

6:00 PM

Seton Hall University

9-10,1-4Big East

Xavier

9-6,4-1Big East

Seton Hall

Xavier

Epic Rally Falls Short as Pirates Drop Five-Setter at Xavier

10/8/2021 9:23:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score HOME BOX SCORE (.pdf)

Six Pirates collected at least nine kills and both Madeline Matheny and Taylor Jakubowski had double-doubles.

CINCINNATI – Six Pirates recorded at least nine kills and the Seton Hall women's volleyball team rallied from a two-set deficit, but ultimately fell on the road to Xavier, 3-2 (23-25, 24-26, 25-22, 25-21, 13-15), on Friday.

In one of the closest matches the Pirates have played all year, the teams combined for 42 ties and 20 lead changes. All three of Seton Hall's losing sets were by only two points.

Junior Madeline Matheny (Wilmington, Del.) and Taylor Jakubowski (Lake in the Hills, Ill.) recorded double-doubles. Matheny had a team-best 12 kills to go with a career-high 21 digs. Jakubowski had another impressive 20/20 performance, registering 27 assists and a team-best 24 digs. She also had four kills and no attack errors.

Senior Emilee Turner (Kaysville, Utah) had an impressive 11 kills and only one attack error in her return from injury. Madison Frusha (Huntsville, Texas) finished with 10 kills and five blocks. Perri Lucas (Chicago, Ill.), Tsvetelina Ilieva (Sofia, Bulgaria) and Amanda Rachwal (Bethlehem, Pa.) all finished with nine kills.

SET 1:
Trailing 11-9 in the opening set, the Pirates scored five of the next six points, and a kill by Turner gave them a 14-12 advantage. Xavier, however, responded with four straight to retake the lead. Down 20-17, The Hall scored three of the next four points to pull to within, 21-20, and send Xavier to a timeout. A kill by Ilieva tied the score at 21, but after two more ties, Xavier scored the final two points to win a close opener, 25-23. Anna Holland (Waukesha, Wis.), Jakubowski and Matheny all had seven digs for The Hall in the first set.

SET 2:
A three-point burst, capped by a kill from Lucas gave The Hall an early 10-6 lead in set two. With the Pirates leading, 13-10, the Musketeers went on a 5-1 run to take a 15-14 advantage. The Hall charged back with three straight, including back-to-back service aces by Matheny to reclaim the lead, 17-15. Xavier responded with a an 8-3 run to claim a 23-20 lead, but The Hall scored the next three points to the score at 23. The Pirates staved off one set point, but ultimately fell, 26-24. The Hall dropped the second set despite recording a .375 attack percentage and not committing an attack error.

SET 3:
The third set was another very close affair. With the score tied at 16, The Hall scored three of the next four points to take the lead for good. Xavier cut their deficit to 20-19, but the Pirates responded with four straight points, and a kill by Matheny put them in set point, 24-19. The Musketeers scored three straight, but a kill by Rachwal eventually handed The Hall a 25-22 set-three victory.

SET 4:
Down 5-4 early in set four, the Pirates went on a 7-1 run and a kill by Ilieva put them on top, 11-6. The Hall kept up the pressure and another kill by Matheny gave them a 17-10 advantage. Trailing 21-13, Xavier went on a 6-1 run to cut The Hall's lead to 22-19 and force a Pirate timeout. After the lead was cut to only two points, Seton Hall righted the ship, and a kill by Turner, won the set for The Hall, 25-21, and forced a decisive fifth set.

SET 5:
Xavier took an early 4-2 lead, but then the Pirates bounced back, and a block by Rachwal tied the set at four. From there, neither team grabbed a lead greater than a single point until late. A kill by Matheny tied the set at 12, but Xavier scored the next two points to enter match point and force a pair of Pirate timeouts. A kill by Lucas cut The Hall's lead to 14-13, but Xavier ended the match on the next rally to win the set, 15-13.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

Matheny had a double-double with a team-best 12 kills to go with a career-high 21 digs.
Jakubowski finished with 27 assists, a team-high 24 digs and four kills.
Frusha had 10 kills and five blocks.
Rachwal had nine kills, only one attack error, a team-best .571 attack percentage and five blocks.
Ilieva had nine kills, only one attack error and seven digs.
Lucas had nine kills and four blocks.
Seton Hall recorded a .237 attack percentage for the match, while Xavier attacked at .201.
The Pirates had 65 kills, while Xavier recorded 72.
Seton Hall finished with 102 digs, while the Musketeers had 97.
The Pirates had 10.0 total blocks, while Xavier had 12.0.

NEWS & NOTES:

Seton Hall falls to 9-10 overall on the season and 1-4 in the BIG EAST, while Xavier improves to 9-6 overall and 4-1 in conference play.
The Pirates are now 3-12 all-time against the Musketeers and have now lost six straight in the series.
Seton Hall drops to 2-2 this season in five-set matches.
Jakubowski's double-double is her third straight, 10^th of the season and the 17^th of her career.
Turner returned to the court tonight after missing the last 16 matches due to injury.
Matheny's double-double is her second of the season.
The Pirates had at least 10.0 team blocks for the eighth time this season. They are now 5-3 in those matches.
Tonight's match was the first time Seton Hall has lost when having a higher attack percentage. It's now 9-1 when out-hitting its opponent.
With nine kills tonight, Lucas surpassed the 300-kill milestone for her career.
With nine kills tonight, Ilieva surpassed the 200-kill milestone for her career.
Including tonight's match, Seton Hall has now dropped seven sets by two points in BIG EAST play alone. Despite their 1-4 record, the Pirates have been highly competitive.
Seton Hall's 102 team digs tonight marks the first time topping the century mark since registering 115 against Bowling Green on Sept. 16, 2017.

UP NEXT:
Seton Hall will return to action tomorrow when it travels to Indianapolis, Ind. for a BIG EAST Conference contest at Butler. Match time is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.