Pirates Suffer First BIG EAST Defeat; Fall at St. John's, 3-1

Wednesday, September 27

Queens, N.Y. / Carnesecca Arena

6:30 PM

Seton Hall University

8-6,2-1Big East

St. John's

11-4,3-0Big East

Seton Hall

St. John's (NY)

Jenna Walsh spikes the ball against NJIT on Aug. 31.

Pirates Suffer First BIG EAST Defeat; Fall at St. John's, 3-1

9/27/2023 9:13:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score BOX SCORE - SJU (.pdf)

QUEENS, N.Y. – Senior Jenna Walsh (Foothill Ranch, Calif.) had a match-high 14 kills, but the Seton Hall women's volleyball team fell in four sets at St. John's, 3-1 (25-18, 18-25, 17-25, 23-25), for its first BIG EAST loss of the season on Wednesday.

The Hall came out strong and won the first set, but St. John's rallied to win the last three. It's the first time the Pirates have lost a match after winning the first set this year.

Walsh had 14 kills, only three attack errors and a team-best .344 attack percentage. Senior Bianca Bucciarelli (Carate Brianza, Italy) had 12 kills, eight digs and three blocks.

SET 1:
Seton Hall got out to a huge lead to begin the opening set and coasted to the victory. Down 4-3, the Pirates went on a 17-2 run, and an ace by Asli Subasili (Tekirdag, Turkey) gave them a commanding 20-6 advantage. The Red Storm bounced back with a 9-2 run of their own to cut their deficit to 22-15, but St. John's couldn't get closer than six points as a kill by Walsh put set one in the win column for the Pirates, 25-18.

SET 2:
The second set was much closer. A block by Maddie Klungel (Napa, Calif.) tied the set at nine, but St. John's responded with three straight points and forced a Seton Hall timeout. A block by Walsh and Subasili cut The Hall's deficit to 16-14, but the Red Storm went on a 6-1 run to grab a 22-15 advantage. St. John's went on to even the match with a 25-18 victory. After having an attack percentage of .000 in set one, the Red Storm attacked at a .348 clip in set two.

SET 3:
Although the third set was close early, Seton Hall never led. Down 18-12, back-to-back points by the Pirates cut their deficit to four and forced a timeout, but St. John's rebounded with four straight of their own to extend their lead to 22-14. The Red Storm went on to a 25-17 victory.

SET 4:
The Hall started out strong, scoring seven of the first 10 points of the fourth set. St. John's, however, responded with a 8-1 run to take a 11-8 lead and force an early Seton Hall timeout. A block by Bucciarelli and Hanna Tulli (Collegeville, Pa.) cut The Hall's deficit to 15-14. The Pirates cut their deficit to just one point on three more occasions, but alas, couldn't find the equalizer, and fell, 25-23.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

Walsh had a match-high 14 kills, only three attack errors, a .344 attack percentage and four digs.
Bucciarelli had 12 kills, eight digs and three blocks.
Tulli finished with seven kills and six blocks.
Subasili had a team-best seven blocks and four aces.
Klungel notched 22 assists, five digs, two blocks and two kills.
Seton Hall recorded a .154 attack percentage for the match, while St. John's attacked at .200.
The Pirates had 44 kills, while St. John's had 48.
The Hall recorded 47 digs, while the Red Storm had 49.
Seton Hall collected 14.0 blocks and St. John's had 10.0.

NEWS & NOTES:

Seton Hall drops to 8-6 overall and suffers its first BIG EAST loss of the season (2-1), while St. John's improves to 11-4 overall and 3-0 in conference play.
The Hall is now 19-21 all-time against the Red Storm.
The Pirates drop to 1-4 in four-set matches this season.
Seton Hall suffered its first loss of the season after winning the first set (8-1).
Seton Hall collected a season-high 14 blocks tonight.
The Pirates had more blocks than their opponent for the eighth time this season. They are 4-4 in those matches.

UP NEXT:
The Pirates will return to action on Sunday, Oct. 1 when it travels to Omaha, Neb. for a contest against defending BIG EAST champion Creighton. Match time is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. ET.