Pirates Fall as Xavier Rallies for Four-Set Win

Saturday, October 28

South Orange, N.J.

5:00 PM

Seton Hall University

11-12,5-7Big East

Xavier

14-9,7-5Big East

Xavier

Seton Hall

10/28/2023 8:04:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score BOX SCORE - XU (.pdf)

Madeline Matheny collected her fourth double-double in the last five matches.

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – Graduate student Madeline Matheny (Wilmington, Del.) had a double-double and the Seton Hall women's volleyball team won the opening set, but Xavier rallied for a four-set victory, 3-1 (25-21, 16-25, 22-25, 5-25), on Saturday.

The Pirates burst out of the gate with a .371 attack percentage in a convincing first-set victory, but Xavier rallied to win sets, two, three and four. Despite losses, The Hall has consistently played its opponents closely. The Pirates have been swept only twice in 23 matches so far this year.

Matheny collected her fourth double-double in the last five matches with a team-best 13 kills to go with 11 digs.

Senior Taylor Jakubowski (Lake in the Hills, Ill.) nearly had a double-double, finishing with a team-best 18 assists to go with eight digs and three kills.

SET 1:
Leading 12-11 in the first set, the Pirates went on a 7-2 run to grab a 19-13 advantage. Xavier rallied to cut their deficit to just two points late, 22-20, but The Hall was able to hold them off. A block by Maddie Klungel (Napa, Calif.) and Hanna Tulli (Collegeville, Pa.) put The Hall in set point, 24-20, and two points later, a kill by Klungel won the set for the Pirates. The Pirates had 15 kills and only two attack errors in the opening frame.

SET 2:
Xavier led wire-to-wire in the second set, scoring the first four points and extending their lead to 13-4. The Hall cut its lead to five points on a block by Asli Subasili (Tekirdag, Turkey) and Senna Roberts-Navarro (Honolulu, Hi.), but couldn't get closer. Xavier responded with a 6-1 burst to grab an insurmountable 22-12 lead. The Musketeers went on for a 25-16 set-two victory.

SET 3:
The Pirates' offense was better in the third set, but ultimately Xavier was able to outlast The Hall. Seton Hall led for the majority of the set, and a kill by Matheny gave it a 15-8 advantage. A kill by Subasili gave The Hall a 22-20 lead, but the Musketeers closed the set with five straight points to stun The Hall for a 25-22 victory. Matheny had six of her team-leading 13 kills in the third set alone.

SET 4:
Gassed after a long, hard-fought third set, The Hall collected only one kill and committed nine attack errors in a 25-5 fourth-set loss.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

Matheny had a double-double with 13 kills and 11 digs.
Jakubowski tallied a team-high 18 assists to go with eight digs and three kills.
Senior Bianca Bucciarelli (Carate Brianza, Italy) had a season-high 11 digs to go with four kills and three assists.
Freshman Rylee Nelson (Mazeppa, Minn.) collected a team-high 12 digs to go with three assists.
Seton Hall recorded a .128 attack percentage for the match, while Xavier attacked at .313.
The Pirates had 40 kills, while Xavier had 59.
The Hall recorded 51 digs, while the Musketeers had 60.
Seton Hall collected 7.0 blocks and Xavier had 8.0.

NEWS & NOTES:

Seton Hall drops to 11-12 overall and 5-7 in the BIG EAST, while Xavier improves to 14-9 overall and 7-5 in conference play.
The Hall is now 4-16 all-time against the Musketeers and has dropped 10 of the last 11 matches in the series.
The Pirates drop to 1-9 in four-set matches this season.
With 11 digs tonight, Matheny surpassed the 500-mark for her career.
Matheny's double-double is her fourth straight, seventh of the season and the 10^th of her career.

UP NEXT:
The Pirates will return to action on Friday, November 3 when it travels to Connecticut. Match time is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.