Pirates Down Stags in Four Sets; Claim First Win

Friday, September 3

Fairfield, Conn. / Alumni Hall

12:30 PM

Seton Hall University

1-3,0-0Big East

Fairfield

0-4,0-0MAAC

Seton Hall

Fairfield

9/3/2021 3:20:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score HOME BOX SCORE (.pdf)

Lucas collects 13 kills, while Holland leads all players with 22 digs in the Pirates' first victory.

FAIRFIELD, CONN. – Sophomore Perri Lucas (Chicago, Ill.) had a team-high 13 kills and freshman Anna Holland (Waukesha, Wis.) notched a game-high 22 digs as the Seton Hall women's volleyball team defeated Fairfield, 3-1 (25-22, 18-25, 25-23, 25-23), on Friday for its first win of the young season.

Lucas posted 13 kills to lead the Pirates offensively, while Julia Wilkins (Mason, Ohio) added 10 kills and Pirate newcomer Madeline Matheny (Wilmington, Del.) had nine kills and eight digs.

Holland was brilliant defensively, more than doubling her prior career high with 22 digs. She also had four assists. Speaking of defense, The Hall collected 12.0 team blocks, led by Madison Frusha (Huntsville, Texas) and Amanda Rachwal (Bethlehem, Pa.), who had six and five blocks respectively.

SET 1:
The opening set was a close, back-and-forth affair with neither team grabbing a lead greater than three points. With the score tied at 21, a kill by Lucas and blocks by Lucas and Rachwal put The Hall in front, 23-21. After a Fairfield point, another kill by Lucas put the Pirates in set point, and then another block, this time by Rachwal and Wilkins cemented the Pirates victory, 25-22. Offensively, the Pirates had one of their finest sets of the season, recording a .344 attack percentage to go with 15 kills and just four attack errors.

SET 2:
Seton Hall scored the first three points of the second set, but Fairfield roared back to grab a 7-6 advantage. A Stag attack error gave The Hall a 14-12 lead, but Fairfield went on a 7-0 run to jump ahead, 19-14, and force a Pirate timeout. A kill by Wilkins cut Seton Hall's deficit to 22-18, but the Stags closed out the set with three straight points to tie the match at one set apiece.

Here's the winning point of the third set... a great rally. Julia Wilkins goes deep to tally the 25th point!#HALLin 🏐🏴‍☠️🏐 pic.twitter.com/D8aCW4oEZb
— Seton Hall Volleyball (@SHUVolley) September 3, 2021

SET 3:
The Pirates held a slim lead for the majority of the third set until Fairfield scored four straight points late in the set to grab a 22-20 advantage. Undeterred, the Pirates bounced back and scored five of the set's final six points to claim the come-from-behind victory, 25-23. After a block by Wilkins and Frusha put The Hall in set point, a kill by Wilkins won it.

SET 4:
Fairfield started strong in the fourth set, scoring seven of the first 10 points. The Pirates however, stormed back and used a 5-0 run to take a 10-9 lead on a kill by Rachwal. The Stags tied the score at 14, but The Hall took off again with four unanswered points, and a kill by Tsvetelina Ilieva (Sofia, Bulgaria) put it on top, 18-14. Fairfield again rallied to tie the set at 22, but the Pirates scored three of the final four points, and another kill by Ilieva with the Pirates leading 24-23, won the match.

Great rally with a couple of big digs before Tsvetelina Ilieva put the ball away for a Pirate point!!#HALLin 🏐🏴‍☠️🏐 pic.twitter.com/w6ZE9YUIcJ
— Seton Hall Volleyball (@SHUVolley) September 3, 2021

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

Lucas had a team-high 13 kills.
Holland had a career-high 22 digs to go with four assists.
Matheny registered nine kills, eight digs and two blocks.
Wilkins had 10 kills and four blocks.
Frusha had five kills and a team-best six blocks.
Sophomore Cagla Bengi (Bursa, Turkey) finished with a team-high 23 assists to go with five digs and two service aces.
Sophomore Taylor Jakubowski (Lake in the Hills, Ill.) had 16 assists and six digs.
Seton Hall recorded a .196 attack percentage for the match, while Fairfield attacked at .195.
The Pirates had 49 kills, while the Stags recorded 57.
Seton Hall finished with 60 digs, while Fairfield had 68.
The Pirates had 12.0 total blocks, while Fairfield had 10.0.

NEWS & NOTES:

Seton Hall notches its first win of the young season, improving to 1-3, while Fairfield drops to 0-4.
The Pirates improve to 10-4 all-time against the Stags and have now won four of the last five meetings.
With five blocks today, Rachwal reached the 250-block milestone for her career.
Holland reached 20 digs (22) in a match for the first time in her career.
Bengi reached 20 assists (23) in a match for the first time in her career.

UP NEXT:
Seton Hall will continue play at the Fairfield Invitational later today when it faces another local foe, Hofstra. Match time is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.