Safian, Pirates Rally Past NJIT in Five Sets

Thursday, September 17

Bloom WEC / Newark, N.J.

6:00 PM

Seton Hall University

7-3,0-0Big East

NJIT

1-11,0-0America East

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Seton Hall	25	19	21	25	15	3
NJIT	21	25	25	22	11	2

BOX SCORE (.pdf)

9/17/2026 9:02:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score BOX SCORE (.pdf)

NEWARK, N.J. – Sophomore Daria Safian (Moscow, Russia) had a career-high 21 kills, and junior Gwen Adler (Barrington, Ill.) picked up her fifth double-double of the season as the Seton Hall women's volleyball team rallied for a victory at NJIT, 3-2 (25-21, 19-25, 21-25, 25-22, 15-11), on Thursday.

Trailing 2-to-1 in sets, the Pirates rallied to win sets four and five and pick up their second five-set victory this season. The Hall had 10 kills, only one attack error and a match-high .375 attack percentage in the defining fifth set.

Safian finished with a match-high 21 kills, a .306 attack percentage and six digs. Hania Labanowska (Warsaw, Poland) added 17 kills, only two attack errors, seven digs and four blocks.

Adler matched her career-high with 40 assists to go with 13 digs and three kills. Senior Rylee Nelson (Mazeppa, Minn.) collected a career-high 25 digs.

SET 1:
Seton Hall led the opening set wire-to-wire. Leading 11-7, the Pirates scored five of the next six points, and a kill by Labanowska gave them a commanding 16-8 advantage. A block by Maddy Loiselle (Tampa, Fla.) and Mia Clyburn (Fort Mill, S.C.) gave The Hall a 20-13 lead, but NJIT answered with four points in a row to cut its deficit to 20-17. The Pirates bounced back with three straight, and a kill by Safian put them up 23-17. Another kill by Safian gave Seton Hall a 25-21 first-set victory.

SET 2:
A kill by Clyburn gave Seton Hall an early 10-5 lead in set two, but NJIT answered with a 14-2 run to grab a commanding 19-12 advantage. The Highlanders went on to win, 25-19, to even the match at one set apiece.

SET 3:
A kill by Labanowska gave The Hall a 6-4 lead early in set three, but the Highlanders answered with a 5-1 spurt to grab a 9-7 advantage. Trailing 18-15, The Hall got kills from Samantha Shelton (Oak Park, Ill.) and Gwen Adler (Barrington, Ill.) to cut its deficit to 18-17, but NJIT bounced back with two straight of their own to gab a 20-17 lead and force a Pirates' timeout. The Pirates dropped set three, 25-21.

SET 4:
Seton Hall raced out to an early lead in set four, and a kill by Alex Rasmussen (Lincoln, Neb.) gave it a 10-5 advantage. NJIT cut its deficit to 13-12, but The Hall extended its lead to 16-12 with another kill by Labanowska. The Highlanders cut their deficit to 22-21, but an attack error by NJIT put the Pirates up, 23-21, and then a pair of kills by Safian gave them a 25-22 set-four victory. The Hall held NJIT to a match-low .115 attack percentage in set four and tied the match at two sets apiece.

SET 5:
Seton Hal raced out to a 4-1 lead in the fifth set, but NJIT rallied to tie the score at five. The Hall then scored four in a row, and a kill by Rasmussen gave the Pirates a 9-5 advantage and forced an NJIT timeout. Leading 13-10, a kill by Safian put The Hall in match point, and two points later, another by Labanowska completed its comeback with a 15-11 fifth-set victory.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

Safian had a career-high 21 kills, six digs and a .306 attack percentage.
Adler tied her career-high with 40 assists to go with 13 digs, three kills and two blocks.
Labanowska had a career-high 17 kills, only two attack errors, seven digs and four blocks.
Nelson collected a career-high 25 digs.
Rasmussen had eight kills and a career-high eight blocks.
Shelton had eight kills and 11 digs.
Seton Hall recorded a .249 attack percentage for the match, while NJIT attacked at .202.
The Pirates had 66 kills, while NJIT had 67.
The Hall tallied 88 digs, while the Highlanders had 92.
Seton Hall had 10.0 team blocks, while NJIT had 6.0.

NEWS & NOTES:

Seton Hall improves to 7-3 on the young season, which surpasses its win total from all of 2025, while NJIT falls to 1-11.
The Hall is now 11-2 all-time against the Highlanders.
The Pirates are now 2-1 in five-set matches this season.
With 21 kills today, Safian surpassed the 300-kills mark for her career.
Safian topped 15 kills in a single-match for the fourth time this season and the seventh time in her career.
Seton Hall is now a perfect 7-0 this season when it has a higher attack percentage than its opponent.
With 13 digs today, Adler surpassed the 300-digs mark for her career.
It's the third time this season that Seton Hall has collected at least 10.0 team blocks.
Adler's double-double is her fifth of the season and the 11th of her career.
Nelson reached 20 digs in a single-match for the third time this season and the 11^th time in her career.
Adler reached at least 30 assists in a single-match for the seventh time in her career.
Seton Hall's two service aces are tied for the fewest this season, while its 16 service errors are a season-high.
The Pirates' 88 digs tonight are a season-high.

UP NEXT:
The Pirates will return to action tomorrow when they continue play at the NJIT Invitational in nearby Newark, N.J. The Hall will face Iona at 3:00 p.m.