Walsh, Holland Lead Pirates Over Akron, 3-1

Saturday, September 3

South Orange, N.J.

12:30 PM

Seton Hall University

4-1,0-0Big East

Akron

0-5,0-0MAC

Akron

Seton Hall

9/3/2022 4:17:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score BOX SCORE - Akron (.pdf)

The Hall improves to 2-0 at the Seton Hall Invitational and will look for the sweep tonight.

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – Sophomore Jenna Walsh (Foothill Ranch, Calif.) matched her career-high with 16 kills, and Anna Holland (Waukesha, Wis.) had a season-high 26 digs as the Seton Hall women's volleyball team outlasted Akron, 3-1 (24-26, 25-16, 25-23, 25-22), on Saturday.

Seton Hall is now undefeated at its own Seton Hall Invitational and will look to claim the tournament title tonight when it faces 2-0 Iona.

Walsh was brilliant saving seven of her 16 kills for the match-clinching fourth set. Holland finished with a season-best 26 digs to go with five assists.

Junior Laila Wallace (Munster, Ind.) continues to impress with extended playing time. The Radford transfer had a season-high nine kills, only one attack error, and a team-best six blocks.

SET 1:
The opening set featured four lead changes and 10 ties. At no point during the set did either team grab a lead of greater than three points. A kill by Perri Lucas (Chicago, Ill.) put The Hall in front 20-19, but Akron found the equalizer and the Pirates never led again. Down 24-23, a kill by Walsh staved off an Akron set point. The Zips, however, ended the set with back-to-back kills to surprise the Pirates with a 26-24 set one win.

SET 2:
The Pirates stormed back in the second set, completing one of their most impressive single sets of the season. The Hall had 15 kills, no attack errors, and an impressive .484 attack percentage in the second stanza and never trailed. With the score tied at four, the Pirates went on a 9-2 run, and a kill by Reagan Hopp (Carmel, Ind.) put them on top, 15-6. The Hall cruised to a 25-16 second set victory.

SET 3:
Seton Hall appeared to be headed for a similar dominant showing in set three, but Akron made a huge run late. The Pirates scored nine of the first 11 points of the set. Leading 13-8, The Hall scored five of the next six points, and a kill by Bianca Bucciarelli (Carate Brianza, Italy) gave the Pirates a commanding 18-9 advantage. Trailing 20-13, Akron went on an 8-1 run to close to within one point, 22-21. With the score tied at 23, an Akron service error put The Hall in set point, and a block by Wallace and Julia Wilkins (Mason, Ohio) put the set in the win column for the Pirates.

SET 4:
In the fourth set alone, Walsh had seven kills and Holland had 11 digs. The set didn't start promising for the Pirates, however. Akron scored eight of the first nine points. Trailing 19-14, The Hall roared back scoring five straight points, and a kill by Lucas tied the set at 19. The Zips again jumped ahead, 22-20, but The Hall closed out the match with the final five points. Three of the final four points were on kills by Walsh.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

Walsh matched her career-high with 16 kills to go with four digs.
Holland had a season-high 26 digs to lead all players. She also had five assists.
Wallace matched her career-high with nine kills to go with a match-high six blocks.
Junior Taylor Jakubowski (Lake in the Hills, Ill.) finished one dig shy of a double-double, recording 20 assists and nine digs.
Sophomore Madison Klungel (Napa, Calif.) had a team-high 24 assists to go with six digs.
Lucas had 11 kills and only two attack errors.
Bucciarelli recorded 12 kills, four digs and three blocks.
Seton Hall recorded a .293 attack percentage for the match, while Akron attacked at .174.
The Pirates had 56 kills, while Akron recorded 58.
The Hall tallied 60 digs, while the Zips recorded 59.
The Pirates had 9.0 total blocks, while Akron had 3.0.

NEWS & NOTES:

Seton Hall improves to 4-1 on the young season, while Akron drops to 0-5.
This is The Hall's first-ever victory over Akron in five all-time matches.
The Hall improves to 2-1 in four-set matches.
The Pirates are a perfect 4-0 with having a higher attack percentage than their opponent.
This is the first time this season Seton Hall won after dropping the opening set.
Earlier today at the Seton Hall Invitational, Iona defeated George Mason in four sets.
The Pirates set season highs for team kills (56), attacks (140), assists (54) and digs (60).
With 20 assists today, Jakubowski surpassed the 900-assist mark for her career.
Walsh has now topped 15-kills in a single match twice this season.

UP NEXT:
The 2022 Seton Hall Invitational continues tonight. The Pirates will face Iona at 7:00 p.m. The contest will be streamed live by the Pirate Sports Network and shown on FloSports.