Pirates Host St. John's for Two Matches This Weekend

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – Walsh Gymnasium

SETON HALL (3-2, 1-1) vs. ST. JOHN'S (5-3, 1-2)

Date

Time

Live Video

Live Audio

Live Stats

Twitter

Friday,
March 12

5:00 PM ET

LIVE STATS

@SHUVolley

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – Walsh Gymnasium

SETON HALL (3-2, 1-1) vs. ST. JOHN'S (5-3, 1-2)

Date

Time

Live Video

Live Audio

Live Stats

Twitter

Saturday,
March 13

5:00 PM ET

LIVE STATS

@SHUVolley

PREVIEW
Seton Hall will continue BIG EAST play this weekend when it hosts St. John's for a pair of contests on Friday and Saturday. Both matches will begin at 5:00 p.m. ET.

MEDIA
Both contests this weekend are tentatively scheduled to be streamed live by the Pirate Sports Network. Both can also be heard on 89.5 FM WSOU or wsou.net.

LAST MATCH
Freshman Tsvetelina Ilieva (Sofia, Bulgaria) had a match-high 14 kills, but the Seton Hall women's volleyball team fell to Providence, 3-0, in Walsh Gymnasium on Saturday.

The Pirates and Friars split the season series, each winning this BIG EAST-opening weekend.

Ilieva had a strong match for The Hall, going for a team-best 14 kills to go with six digs and four blocks. Perri Lucas (Chicago, Ill.) nearly collected a double-double with nine kills and 11 digs. Taylor Jakubowski (Lake in the Hills, Ill.) had a team-best 28 assists to go with eight digs.

SCOUTING ST. JOHN'S
Seton Hall has a slim 17-16 lead in the all-time series against the Red Storm, but St. John's has won the last four matches, all sweeps. The Pirates' last win came in four sets at Carnesecca Arena in 2017.

The Red Storm are coming off a banner year, which included a 22-12 final record and culminating with a surprise 2019 BIG EAST Tournament Championship. St. John's earned the No. 4 seed in the 2019 BIG EAST Tournament, and shocked top-seeded, and 10^th-ranked Creighton with a three-set sweep in the semifinals. The Red Storm then continued their stunning run by defeating second-seeded, and 12^th-ranked Marquette in four sets in the final to claim their first BIG EAST title in 12 years.

Efrosini Alexakou was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player after putting down 29 kills across the Red Storm's two victories. Alexakou, along with senior setter Erica Di Maulo and sophomore right side hitter Rachele Rastelli also earned nods to the All-BIG EAST Tournament Team.

This season, the Red Storm are off to a 5-3 start overall and split their BIG EAST-opening series Connecticut, with both teams earning four-set wins. St. John's was named the unanimous preseason favorite to win the BIG EAST's East Division this season and Alexakou was named Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year. Rastelli joined Alexakou on the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team.

Most recently, St. John's fell to Villanova in four sets at Carnesecca Arena on Wednesday. Alexakou had a double-double with 21 kills and 13 digs, while Rastelli had 14 kills.

UP NEXT
Seton Hall will return to action next weekend when it travels to Villanova for two matches in two days, March 19-20. Match time for both contests are scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET.