Pirates Drop Heartbreaker as Princeton Rallies in Five

Saturday, September 12

XFINITY Center / College Park, Md.

1:00 PM

Seton Hall University

5-3,0-0Big East

Princeton

2-3,0-0Ivy League

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Seton Hall	25	21	25	25	10	2
Princeton	22	25	23	27	15	3

Pirates Drop Heartbreaker as Princeton Rallies in Five

9/12/2026 4:32:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score BOX SCORE (.pdf)

COLLEGE PARK, MD. – Sophomore Daria Safian (Moscow, Russia) had a team-high 17 kills and junior Gwen Adler (Barrington, Ill.) tallied a double-double, but the Seton Hall women's volleyball team fell in five sets to Princeton, 3-2 (25-22, 21-25, 25-23, 25-27, 10-15), on Saturday.

The Pirates led 2-to-1 in sets, put up 25 points in set four, and had a lead in set five, but couldn't put Princeton away and suffered back-to-back losses for the first time this season.

Safian had 17 kills, only four attack errors and a .342 attack percentage, while Adler erupted for 33 assists and a career-high 22 digs.

Alondra Villanueva (Lima, Peru), Samantha Shelton (Oak Park, Ill.) and Kennedy Horn (Columbus, Ind.) all also had at least 12 kills. Villanueva tallied 14 kills, five digs and two aces. Shelton notched 13 kills, seven digs and three blocks, while Horn had 12 kills and four blocks.

SET 1:
With the score tied at seven in set one, The Hall scored four of the next five points and a kill by Safian gave it a 12-8 lead. With the score tied at 15, the Pirates scored three straight, and a kill by Shelton gave them an 18-15 lead and sent Princeton to a timeout. After the Tigers tied the set at 22, Seton Hall received kills by Shelton and Villanueva sandwiched around a block by Shelton and Mia Clyburn (Fort Mill, S.C.) to give it a 25-22 set-one victory. The Pirates had a .405 attack percentage in the opener.

SET 2:
Seton Hall never led in the second set. A kill by Horn cut The Hall's deficit to 9-5, but Princeton answered with three straight points to grab a commanding 12-5 lead and force a Seton Hall timeout. Down 17-9, the Pirates scored six of the next eight points, and a kill by Shelton cut their deficit to 19-15. Seton Hall got as close as two points, 22-20, but couldn't complete the comeback.

SET 3:
The third set was a back-and-forth affair that featured 15 ties and five lead changes. Trailing 14-13, the Pirates scored five of the next six points to grab an 18-15 lead and force a Princeton timeout. With the score tied at 23, back-to-back kills by Shelton and Safian gave The Hall a 25-23 set-three victory. Both teams had an attack percentage over .350 in a mostly-clean third set.

SET 4:
A service error cut The Hall's deficit to 9-6 early in set four, but Princeton answered with a 5-1 spurt to grab a 14-7 advantage. Trailing 18-11, the Pirates went on a 10-3 run, and a kill by Clyburn tied the set at 21. From there, the set was tied four more times with Seton Hall staving off a set point before Princeton ultimately came up with a 27-25 victory to tie the match.

SET 5:
A kill by Horn gave The Hall an early 4-2 lead in set five, but Princeton came back with a 7-1 burst to grab a 9-5 advantage and force a Pirates' timeout. The Hall answered with four straight points, and a kill by Shelton tied the score at 10 and sent Princeton to a timeout. The Tigers, however, scored the final five points out of the break to pull off the match comeback.

The Pirates are walking the catwalk during a video review in the third set... 🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/1zIvIhpVk0
— Seton Hall Volleyball (@SHUVolley) September 12, 2026

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

Safian had 17 kills, only four attack errors and a .342 attack percentage.
Adler tallied 33 assists, a career-high 22 digs and two kills.
Villanueva notched 14 kills, five digs, three assists and two aces.
Shelton had 13 kills, seven digs and three blocks.
Horn tallied 12 kills and four blocks.
Sophomore Emilee Fuller (Louisville, Ky.) had a season-high 23 assists to go with seven digs.
Clyburn finished with seven kills, only one attack error, a .667 attack percentage and three blocks.
Seton Hall recorded a .267 attack percentage for the match, while Princeton attacked at .357.
The Pirates had 73 kills, while Princeton had 71.
The Hall tallied 60 digs, while the Tigers had 53.
Seton Hall had 7.0 team blocks, while Princeton had 10.0.

NEWS & NOTES:

Seton Hall drops to 5-3 on the young season, while Princeton improves to 2-3.
The Hall falls to 8-6 all-time against the Tigers.
The Pirates are now 1-1 in five-set matches this season.
Adler's double-double is her fourth of the season and the 10th of her career.
Adler reached at least 30 assists in a single-match for the sixth time in her career.
Safian topped 15 kills in a single-match for the second time this season and the fifth time in her career.
This was the first time this season that Seton Hall has lost despite having more kills and more digs than its opponent.
Seton Hall set a season-high with 73 team kills, 71 team assists and 60 team digs.