Written for WSOU Sports; Published on their website on 1 October 2021
Friday night saw the tense, entertaining face-off between the Seton Hall Pirates (9-8, 1-2 conference) and the Providence Friars (12-4, 0-3 conference). After five grueling sets at the newly renovated Walsh Gymnasium in South Orange, N.J., the Pirates were able to win by a score of 3-2.
The opening kill came from Maryanne Boyle of the visiting side. Seton Hall’s offense was strong, with Çağla Bengi and Amanda Rachwal leading for the first few plays. Tsvetelina Ilieva managed to retaliate a spike from Emma Fink, thus beginning the series of draws this suspenseful match would be remembered for.
While the Pirates focused on the center, the Friars funneled their offense almost exclusively to their right. Perri Lucas (had a season-best 17 kills on the night) eventually took charge of the match and led with three kills in the first set. Seton Hall comfortably won the first set, 25–18.
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsHuge opening effort for The Hall against Providence!! Perri Lucas has four kills and no attack errors. Anna Holland had four digs.#HALLin ⛳🏴☠️⛳ pic.twitter.com/jAVY0zhg2f
— Seton Hall Volleyball (@SHUVolley) October 1, 2021
Providence began another major rally on the third set, when Rachwal, Anna Holland, and Madeline Matheny were trying to stifle the offense while playing a major role in Seton Hall’s defense. The Pirates’ main threats at this point were Alicja Pokrzywa and Mackenzie Taylor with Providence’s corner attacking. Eventually, Niah Tucker led the offensive push, and the Friars won the set, 25–22.
The fourth and fifth sets were the all-out chapters of the match, with the fans getting louder and every player possible attacking from left, right, and center. The fourth set had to be extended, and after many technical reviews, it resulted in a timely 28-26 Providence victory. The fifth set was the decider, with Ilieva scoring the game kill for the Seton Hall Pirates that clinched the huge win.
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsPIRATES WIN!!
— Seton Hall Volleyball (@SHUVolley) October 2, 2021
Seton Hall outlasts Providence in a five-set thriller!!
Pirate Leaders:
Kills – Lucas (17)
Digs – Holland (27)
Assists – Jakubowski (27)
Blocks – Frusha (9)#HALLin 🏐🏴☠️🏐 pic.twitter.com/FwGUnTKBxL
Next up for Seton Hall is another match at Walsh Gymnasium against the №16 Creighton Bluejays at 6 p.m. Liam Plate and Rony Jerez will have the call!
Christopher Benítez Cuartas 
Leave a comment