Villanueva, Pirates Rally Past WCU in Five Sets

Sunday, September 6

Harrah's Cherokee Center / Asheville, N.C.

1:00 PM

Seton Hall University

5-1,0-0Big East

Western Carolina

2-4,0-0SoCon

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Western Caro.	24	25	25	15	6	2
Seton Hall	26	23	22	25	15	3

9/6/2026 4:38:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score BOX SCORE (.pdf)

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Junior Alondra Villanueva (Lima, Peru) erupted for career-highs of 19 kills and 13 digs, and Gwen Adler (Barrington, Ill.) registered her second-straight double-double as the Seton Hall women's volleyball team rallied past Western Carolina, 3-2 (26-24, 23-25, 22-25, 25-15, 15-6), in the Blue Ridge Classic finale on Sunday.

Down 2-to-1 in sets, the Pirates offense broke out in sets four and five, attacking at .444 and .350 percentages respectively to easily dispatch the Catamounts late and complete the comeback.

Adler finished with 35 assists to go with 11 digs and two aces for her third double-double of the season and the ninth of her career.

Daria Safian (Moscow, Russia) erupted for 18 kills, only four attack errors, a .359 attack percentage, five digs and three blocks in a strong all-around performance. Kennedy Horn (Columbus, Ind.) had a career-high 14 kills, only three errors and a .440 attack percentage.

SET 1:
Down 15-14 at the media break, The Hall scored three straight, and an ace by Emilee Fuller (Louisville, Ky.) put it up, 17-15. Trailing 22-21, kills by Safian and Villanueva put the Pirates in front, 23-22. Another kill by Safian put The Hall in set point, 24-23, but Western Carolina was able to stave off the loss to tie the score at 24. The Hall answered with a block by Villanueva to again put it in set point, and a Catamount attack error gave it a 26-24 victory.

SET 2:
In the second set, an ace by Adler put Seton Hall up, 10-6. Down 15-13, Western Carolina scored four in a row to take a 17-15 lead and force a Seton Hall timeout. A block by Villanueva put the Pirates up, 22-20, but the Catamounts responded with two straight to tie the score and force a Seton Hall timeout. A kill by Villanueva tied the set at 23, but Western Carolina was able to register the last two points of the set for a 25-23 win.

SET 3:
In the third set, a kill by Maddy Loiselle (Tampa, Fla.) gave The Hall a 20-15 lead and forced a Catamounts timeout. Western Carolina, however, rallied out of the break and closed out the set with a 10-2 run.

SET 4:
With the score tied at three early in set four, The Hall went on a 7-1 run, and a block by Loiselle gave it a 10-4 lead and forced an early Western Carolina timeout. A Villanueva kill capped another Pirates' surge of three straight points and hand Seton Hall a commanding 18-9 advantage. The Pirates went on to win set four, 25-15. The Hall had a match-high .444 in the fourth frame. Villanueva had five of her 19 kills in the fourth set alone.

SET 5:
The Hall started quickly in set five, scoring four of the first five points. Western Carolina took an early timeout, but it didn't stop the Pirates momentum. The Hall extended their set-opening run to 10-2 before the Catamounts were forced to take their second stoppage. Leading 13-6, a kill by Samantha Shelton (Oak Park, Ill.) put The Hall in match point, and a Western Carolina attack error completed the Pirates comeback.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

Villanueva had a match-high 19 kills to go with 13 digs and two blocks.
Adler tallied a double-double with 35 assists, 11 digs and two aces.
Safian had a season-high 18 kills, only four attack errors, a .359 attack percentage, five digs and three blocks.
Horn notched a career-high 14 kills, three attack errors, a .440 attack percentage, four digs and two blocks.
Senior Rylee Nelson (Mazeppa, Minn.) had a team-high 21 digs with six assists.
Fuller finished with 22 assists, seven digs and four aces.
Freshman Rylee Wooldridge (Mars, Pa.) had a career-high 13 digs.
Seton Hall recorded a .275 attack percentage for the match, while Western Carolina attacked at .182.
The Pirates had 71 kills, while Western Carolina had 52.
The Hall tallied 79 digs, while the Catamounts had 65.
Seton Hall had 10.0 team blocks, while Western Carolina had 6.0.

NEWS & NOTES:

Seton Hall improves to 5-1 on the young season, while Western Carolina drops to 2-4.
This was the first-ever match between Western Carolina and Seton Hall.
The Hall is now 5-1 to start the season for the first time since 2022.
This was the first five-set match of the season for Seton Hall.
Adler's double-double is her third of the season and the ninth of her career.
Adler reached at least 30 assists in a single-match for the fifth time in her career.
With 21 digs today, Nelson surpassed 900 for her career.
It's the second time this season that Seton Hall has collected at least 10.0 team blocks.
Safian topped 15 kills in a single-match for the first time this season and the fourth time in her career.
Nelson reached 20 digs in a single-match for the second time this season and the 10^th time in her career.
Seton Hall had 71 team kills. It's the first time the Pirates have topped 70 team kills since recording 73 against Butler on Oct. 27, 2023.

UP NEXT:
The Pirates will return to action on Friday, Sept. 11 when they begin play at the Maryland Invitational in College Park, Md. The Hall will face the Terrapins at 7:00 p.m.