Lucas, Klungel Fuel Pirates' Sweep of NJIT

Thursday, August 31

South Orange, N.J.

5:00 PM

Seton Hall University

3-1,0-0Big East

NJIT

2-3,0-0America East

NJIT

Seton Hall

Perri Lucas attacks during a match in 2022.

8/31/2023 8:44:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

The Pirates take the opener of the Seton Hall Classic to improve to 3-1 on the young season.

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – Senior Perri Lucas (Chicago, Ill.) had a match-high 14 kills and Maddie Klungel (Napa, Calif.) added a double-double as the Seton Hall women's volleyball team swept NJIT, 3-0 (25-17, 30-28, 25-22), to open the Seton Hall Classic on Thursday.

After a significant victory in the opening set, the match hinged on an epic second frame that saw NJIT stave off four set points before the Pirates were able to put them away, 30-28.

Lucas had a season-high 14 kills to go with three blocks. Klungel tallied her second double-double of the season with a team-best 23 assists along with 12 digs, three blocks and two kills.

The reigning BIG EAST Freshman of the Week, Rylee Nelson (Mazeppa, Minn.) collected a match-high 18 digs.

SET 1:
Seton Hall largely dominated the opening set, holding NJIT to only .029 attacking while posting a .250 attack percentage itself. The Highlanders never led and a block by Asli Subasili (Tekirdag, Turkey) and Madeline Matheny (Wilmington, Del.) put The Hall in set point, 24-15. After a pair of NJIT points, a Highlander attack error handed the first set to the Pirates, 25-17.

SET 2:
Lucas had seven kills and only one attack error in the epic second set alone. The Pirates trailed by as many as four points, but were able to rally late. With the score tied at 25, a Seton Hall attack error put NJIT in set point, 26-25, but a Lucas kill was able to even the set again. Tied at 28, a kill by Matheny put The Hall in set point for the fourth time, but this time, a block by Klungel and Hanna Tulli (Collegeville, Pa.), gave The Hall a memorable, 30-28, second set win.

SET 3:
The Pirates had to rally late again in set three after falling behind, 18-14. A 7-1 run, capped by a kill from Tulli, put The Hall on top, 21-19, and the Pirates never looked back. Matheny's fifth kill of the set gave The Hall a 25-22 victory.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

Lucas had a match-high 14 kills to go with three blocks and a .250 attack percentage.
Klungel had a double-double with a team-high 23 assists along with 12 digs, three blocks, three service aces and two kills.
Nelson tallied a match-high 18 digs.
Matheny notched nine kills, only two attack errors and a .389 attack percentage.
Seton Hall recorded a .136 attack percentage for the match, while NJIT attacked at .038.
The Pirates had 41 kills, while the Highlanders recorded 21.
The Hall tallied 60 digs, while NJIT had 43.
Seton Hall recorded 8.0 blocks, while NJIT had 10.0.

NEWS & NOTES:

Seton Hall improves to 3-1 on the young season, while NJIT falls to 2-3.
The Hall is now 8-1 all-time against the Highlanders.
All four of Seton Hall's matches so far this year have been three-set affairs.
Klungel's double-double is her second of the season.
Seton Hall is now 3-0 when having more kills, more digs and a higher attack percentage than its opponent.
With 14 kills today, Lucas surpassed the 700-kills mark for her career.
Seton Hall reached 30 points in the second set for the first time since collecting 30 in the fourth set at Villanova on March 19, 2021.

UP NEXT:
The Pirates will return to action tomorrow when they continue play at the Seton Hall Classic. The Hall will face George Mason at 5:00 p.m.