Pirates Rally for Four-Set Win Over Cincinnati

Friday, September 8

Normal, IL

5:00 PM

Seton Hall University

5-2

Cincinnati

1-6

Seton Hall

Cincinnati

9/8/2017 7:56:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score HOME INFO BOX SCORE

NORMAL, ILL. – The Seton Hall women's volleyball team dropped the first set, but rallied to defeat Cincinnati in four sets, 3-1 (16-25, 26-24, 25-22, 25-17), in the first round of the Redbird Classic on Friday.

SET 1:
With the Pirates leading 6-4, Cincinnati scored five straight and never trailed the first set again. In all, the Bearcats used a 13-3 run to take a commanding 17-9 lead in route to an easy 25-16 victory. Cincinnati had a .500 attack percentage in a dominant first set win, compared to just .100 for The Hall.

SET 2:
The Pirates' second set attack percentage was even worse, hitting just .000, but their defense stepped up the effort. Trailing 15-10, The Hall went on a 6-1 run and blocks by Haylee Gasser (Mission Viejo, Calif.) and Madison Salkowski (Cold Springs, Ky.) tied the score at 16. The Bearcats again jumped ahead and entered set point at 24-21. The Pirates however, ended the set with five straight points with Abby Thelen (Ft. Mitchell, Ky.) serving up the winning point with an ace to give Seton Hall a 26-24 victory.

SET 3:
The Pirates took control mid-way through the third set. With the score tied at 11, Seton Hall scored four straight points to take a 15-11 advantage and prompt a Bearcats timeout. The Hall never trailed again, and blocks by Gasser and Salkowski put it in set point, 24-20. Cincinnati scored two straight out of the break, but the Pirates called a timeout, regrouped and scored the final point to win, 25-22.

SET 4:
Seton Hall trailed only once in the fourth set in route to a 25-17 fourth set win. Trailing 12-11, the Pirates scored five straight points and never trailed again. Ahead 19-16, The Hall ended the match on a 6-1 run.

Inside the Numbers:

Thelen led The Hall with 16 kills to go with five digs.
Sharay Barnes (Swarthmore, Pa.) notched 12 kills and an impressive .381 attack percentage.
Junior Sophia Coffey (Sierra Madre, Calif.) had 23 assists and seven digs.
Junior Miranda Higginbotham (Dallas, Texas) led the Pirates with 12 digs.
Seton Hall recorded a .158 attack percentage for the match, while Cincinnati attacked at .175.
Seton Hall finished with 48 team kills, while Cincinnati had 50.
The Pirates totaled 46 team digs, while Cincinnati had 45.

News & Notes:

Thelen has led the Pirates in kills in all seven matches so far this season.
Thelen reached the 15-kill mark for the fifth time this season and the 14^th time in her career.
Seton Hall improves to 3-6 all-time against Cincinnati.
Coffey played in her 69th consecutive match, which leads all active Pirates.
The victory is the 97^th in the coaching career of Allison Yaeger.

Up Next:
The Pirates return to action tomorrow when they continue play at the Redbird Classic. The Hall will have a doubleheader, facing host Illinois State at 1:30 p.m. ET and Dayton at 5:00 p.m. ET. The Illinois State game will be shown on ESPN3 via the Watch ESPN app.