Seton Hall University
Marquette
Volleyball Falls to Marquette, 3-2
10/13/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - The Seton Hall women's volleyball team rallied late from a one-set deficit, but fell in five sets to Marquette, 3-2 (25-20, 16-25, 22-25, 25-23, 11-15), Saturday in Walsh Gym.
The loss is the Pirates' fourth straight and drops them to 15-5 overall and 3-4 in BIG EAST Conference play. It is also the first time Seton Hall has lost after winning the first set.
Marquette has now won nine straight matches and improves to 16-3 overall and a perfect 6-0 in the BIG EAST.
Seeing extended time due to an injured Molly Grammer, senior Hannah Hugeback (Virginia Beach, Va.) had her best offensive match of the season. The outside hitter led the Pirates with 17 kills and 48 attacks.
Sophomore Simona Sekulova (Auckland, New Zealand) tallied a career-high 15 kills to go with a team-best .258 hitting percentage. Sophomore Shelbey Manthorpe (Merion Station, Pa.) saw her triple-double streak come to an end at three matches, but recorded her 13th double-double of the season with a team-high 39 assists to go with 16 digs.
Junior Alyssa Warren (Joliet, Ill.) had a strong defensive match and led all players with 27 digs. With 1,499 career digs, she moves past Jessica Pompei into second place on the Pirates' career list.
The Pirates came out strong to begin the match with a spirited effort in set one. Trailing 10-9, Seton Hall went on a 7-1 run to take a 16-11 lead and never looked back. Marquette pulled to within one at 17-16, but couldn't take the lead and the Pirates cruised to a 25-20 victory.
Marquette came back with vengeance in set two however, winning by the most lopsided score of the match. Seton Hall mustered just eight kills in the second set and fell behind early. With the score 20-16, the Golden Eagles scored the final five points of the second set and won, 25-16, to even the match at one set apiece.
Set three was hard-fought on both sides and despite the closeness of the score throughout, Seton Hall never led. Marquette took an 18-13 lead, but the Pirates chipped away and pulled to within two at 21-19. But Seton Hall couldn't get closer and lost 25-22 to fall down, two sets to one in the match.
Showing resilience, the Pirates came storming back in set four. Stacey Manthorpe (Merion Station, Pa.) had five of her nine kills in set four alone. Erin Lehman's kill gave Marquette a 1-0 lead, but it would be their only lead of the fourth set. With Seton Hall leading 24-19, the Golden Eagles staved off four straight set points to pull to within 24-23, but Shelbey Manthorpe's kill ended the rally and the fourth set, forcing a decisive fifth set.
Seton Hall never led in set five. Marquette scored the first three points and jumped out to a 9-5 lead on Elizabeth Koberstein's kill. The Pirates mounted a run and cut the deficit to just one, 12-11, but the Golden Eagles scored the final three points of the match to remain unbeaten in conference play.
The Pirates will return to action tomorrow when they host Syracuse at Walsh Gym. Match time is scheduled for 2:00 pm.
