Spirited Pirates Drop Walsh Gym Opener in Four Sets

Sunday, September 26

South Orange, N.J.

2:00 PM

Seton Hall University

8-8,0-2Big East

St. John's

10-6,1-1Big East

St. John's (NY)

Seton Hall

Spirited Pirates Drop Walsh Gym Opener in Four Sets

9/26/2021 6:02:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score HOME BOX SCORE (.pdf)

Madison Frusha and Jenna Walsh total 10 kills to lead the Pirate offense.

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – Three of the four sets needed more than 25 points to determine a winner, but the Seton Hall women's volleyball team fell in a close battle with St. John's, 3-1 (27-29, 22-25, 26-24, 26-28), on Sunday in newly-renovated Walsh Gymnasium.

Seton Hall rallied from two sets down to win a thrilling third set, 26-24, and force a fourth, but ultimately fell, 28-26, in the clincher for the Red Storm.

Senior Madison Frusha (Huntsville, Texas) had a monster afternoon for the Pirates, putting up a career-high 10 kills, with only one attack error, and a .562 attack percentage. She also had seven blocks.

Freshman Jenna Walsh (Foothill Ranch, Calif.) also finished with 10 kills to go with three digs and three blocks. Junior Madeline Matheny (Wilmington, Del.) had seven kills and a team-high 17 digs.

SET 1:
Both teams had an attack percentage over .360 in a wild, back-and-forth first set that saw 13 ties and seven lead changes. Trailing 22-19, Seton Hall scored three straight to tie the opening set at 22 and force St. John's to take their final timeout. The Pirates staved off two St. John's set points, before a kill by Matheny gave them a chance to win, 26-25. After the Red Storm tied the score at 26, Matheny again connected to put The Hall on the cusp of a win, 27-26. The Red Storm, however, closed out the set with three straight points, to win, 29-27.

SET 2:
Whereas both teams were hot offensively in the first set, both were cold in the second. In fact, neither team was able to hit over .055 in set two. With the score tied at 10, the Pirates scored three straight, the latter two on back-to-back attack errors by the Red Storm. St. John's bounced back, however, with five straight points to take a 15-13 advantage, and never trailed again. A kill by Walsh cut the Pirates' deficit to 19-18, but St. John's scored five of the next six points to enter set point, 24-19. After a small Seton Hall run, a Pirate service error handed the set to the Johnnies, 25-22.

SET 3:
Although the set was close, Seton Hall never trailed in the third. The Pirates scored seven of the first nine points to set the pace early. A kill by Matheny gave The Hall a 19-15 lead, but St. John's scored three straight to cut their deficit to one and force a Pirate timeout. A kill by Perri Lucas (Chicago, Ill.) put the Pirates in set point, 24-22, but again St. John's rallied with two straight to tie the set. This time, a kill by Walsh put The Hall in set point again, and the ensuing kill by Julia Wilkins (Mason, Ohio), handed the set to the Pirates, 26-24.

SET 4:
Riding their set-three momentum, Seton Hall again jumped out to an early lead, 9-5, in set four. St. John's bounced back with a 9-1 run to jump ahead 14-10. The Pirates, however, didn't fade, and a three-point burst tied the set at 17. After two more ties, back-to-back kills by Wilkins staved off a St. John's match point and put The Hall in set point, 25-24. The Johnnies again rallied, and although a kill by Frusha vanquished another St. John's match point to tie the set at 26, the Red Storm found the final two points of the match, and won, 28-26.

Check out this dig and score by Taylor Jakubowski!! WOW!! #HALLin 🏐🏴‍☠️🏐 pic.twitter.com/u5Xkh9rLE0
— Seton Hall Volleyball (@SHUVolley) September 26, 2021

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

Frusha finished with a career-high 10 kills, only one attack error, a .562 attack percentage and seven blocks.
Walsh nearly matched her career-high with 10 kills, three digs and three blocks.
Matheny had seven kills and a match-high 17 digs.
Rachwal had a career-high nine blocks to go with four kills.
Lucas finished with eight kills and six blocks.
Seton Hall recorded a .172 attack percentage for the match, while St. John's attacked at .196.
The Pirates had 50 kills, while St. John's recorded 59.
Seton Hall finished with 50 digs, while the Red Storm had 48.
The Pirates had 16.0 total blocks, while St. John's had 11.0.

NEWS & NOTES:

Seton Hall drops to 8-8 overall on the season and 0-2 in BIG EAST play, while St. John's improves to 11-5 overall and 2-0 in the conference.
The Pirates are now 17-19 all-time against St. John's and has dropped the last seven matches in the series.
Seton Hall falls to 2-2 this season in four-set matches.
With 20 assists tonight, Cagla Bengi (Bursa, Turkey) surpassed the 300-assist milestone for her career.
With 10 kills tonight, Frusha surpassed the 100-kill milestone for her career.
The Pirates had at least 10.0 team blocks for the sixth time this season.
St. John's 59 kills and 55 assists today were season-highs for a Seton Hall opponent.

UP NEXT:
Seton Hall will return to action on Friday, Oct. 1 for another BIG EAST Conference contest against Providence 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.