Seton Hall Defeats Georgetown Behind 18 Abby Thelen Kills

Match Results

• Seton Hall def. Georgetown 3-1, (25-18, 17-25, 25-21, 25-16)
• Seton Hall improves to 9-9, (3-2 Big East), Georgetown falls to 7-10, (1-4 Big East)
• South Orange, New Jersey
• Attendance: 431
• Match Stats

Press Release

Courtesy of Seton Hall

Junior Abby Thelen (Ft. Mitchell, Ky.) had a match-high 18 kills and just one attack error as the Seton Hall women’s volleyball team defeated Georgetown, 3-1 (25-18, 17-25, 25-21, 25-16), on Wednesday.

Thelen was magnificent, connecting at a .500 attack percentage, while Seton Hall as a team registered a season-high .310.  The victory moves the Pirates over the .500 mark in BIG EAST play at 3-2.

SET 1:
With Seton Hall clinging to an early 9-8 lead, it went on a 6-1 run to jump out to a sizeable 15-9 advantage, and never looked back.  A kill by Caitlin Koska (Franklin, Wis.) put the Pirates up by seven points, 21-14, a margin that was also reflected in the final score, 25-18.  The Pirates spread the ball around in set one, with five players recording two kills.

SET 2:
After putting forth a strong effort in the first set, The Hall was disappointing in the second.  Georgetown raced out to a 13-5 lead, which prompted the Pirates to take an early second timeout.  From there, they played “catch-up” for the remainder of the set before eventually falling, 25-17.  Despite having a season-best hitting percentage for the match, the Pirates managed only a .069 mark in set two.

SET 3:
The Pirates roared back in set three, thanks in large part to Thelen’s seven kills.  It was the closest set of the match, featuring nine ties, but The Hall took control late.  With the score tied at 16, the Pirates scored five of the next six points to grab a 21-17 lead.  A kill by Thelen put Seton Hall in set point, 24-20, and a Hoya service error ended set three, 25-20.

SET 4:
Two sets after having one of their worst sets of the season, the Pirates put forth one of their best in set four.  Leading 12-11, The Hall went on a 10-2 run, and a service ace by Dominique Mason (Chicago, Ill.) gave it a commanding 22-13 advantage.  From there, the Pirates cruised to a 25-16 set four win, and 3-1 match victory.  Mason had six kills in set four alone, and contributed to an impressive .583 attack percentage in the match-clinching set.

Inside the Numbers:

• Mason finished with 14 kills and six digs.
• Sophomore Haylee Gasser (Mission Viejo, Calif.) had eight kills and a team-best six blocks.
• Senior Sarah Kenneweg (Poolesville, Md.)had a match-high 14 digs.
• Koska finished with five kills and five blocks.
• Seton Hall recorded a .310 attack percentage for the match, while Georgetown attacked at .274.
• Seton Hall finished with 51 team kills, while Georgetown had 54.
• The Pirates totaled 33 team digs, while Georgetown had 37.

News & Notes:

• Prior to the match, Seton Hall presented head coach Allison Yaeger with a commemorative volleyball for her 100^thcareer coaching victory, recorded on Saturday vs. Providence.
• Seton Hall collected a season-high nine service aces in the match.
• The Hall had a season-low 33 team digs.
• Seton Hall improves to 3-0 in four-set matches this season.
• Coffey played in her 79^th consecutive match, which leads all active Pirates.
• The Pirates improve to 16-22 all-time against Georgetown, and have won seven of the last eight matches.

Up Next:
The Pirates will return to action on Friday, October 6 when they travel to Cincinnati for a match at Xavier.  Match time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET.

Press Release

Courtesy of Georgetown Athletics

Georgetown University’s volleyball team dropped a 3-1 (25-18, 17-25, 25-21, 25-16) decision on the road at Seton Hall in BIG EAST action on Wednesday night. The Hoyas fall to 7-10 overall and 1-4 in league play.

Three different Hoyas recorded double-digit kills, led by Symone Speech (Oak Park, Ill./Oak Park-River Forest) with 14. Alyssa Sinnette (Pearland, Texas/Dawson) added 12 while Riley Wertzberger (Dallas, Texas/Richardson) notched 10. Paige McKnight (Atlanta, Ga./Dunwoody) paced the offense with 44 assists to go with five kills and five digs.

Kenzie Higareda (Woodbridge, Va./Forest Park) and Margo Pivonka (Broadview Heights, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) both had eight digs for the Blue & Gray while Werztberger was credited with a career-high four blocks.

With both teams keeping pace to open the first set, Seton Hall (9-9, 3-2 BIG EAST) took the early advantage in the match behind a 6-1 run to take a 15-9 lead. The Hoyas wouldn’t be able to overcome the deficit en route to a 25-18 Pirate victory in the stanza.

Georgetown flipped the script in the second, going ahead by scores of 7-3 and 13-5 to burn both of SHU’s timeouts. The Pirates would manage to pull within four points, down 15-11, but couldn’t make up enough ground as GU evened the match at 1-1 with the 25-17 set victory. Wertzberger and Speech both tallied four kills in the set while three other Hoyas notched a pair.

The third set was the most competitive of the night, featuring a combined 11 ties and lead changes throughout. Seton Hall took an early 4-1 lead before the Hoyas battled back to knot things up at 4-4 on a solo block from Wertzberger. Tied up at 16-16, the Pirates used a 5-1 run to lead 21-17 and would go ahead 23-19 to force GU’s final timeout. Coming out of the huddle, SHU closed out the frame 25-21 to take a 2-1 overall lead.

Another close start in the fourth saw a 7-7 tie behind a Sinnette kill but Seton Hall would later put together runs of 5-2 and 7-1 to lead 22-14 and put the set out of reach en route to the 25-16 win in the deciding set.

Abby Thelan led Seton Hall with 18 kills while Dominique Mason added 14.

Georgetown returns to action on Saturday as it heads back to the friendly confines of McDonough Arena to host Villanova in BIG EAST play. First serve is set for 6 p.m. on the Hilltop.