Efficient Pirates Sweep Sacred Heart

Friday, September 7

Santa Barbara, Calif.

6:00 PM

Seton Hall University

4-3

Sacred Heart

4-2

Sacred Heart

Seton Hall

9/7/2018 11:38:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score HOME INFO BOX SCORE

SANTA BARBARA, CALIF. – The Seton Hall women's volleyball team had 40 kills and an impressive .322 attack percentage in a 3-0 (25-19, 25-14, 25-12) sweep of Sacred Heart in the opening match of The Thunderdome Classic in Santa Barbara on Friday.

Senior Caitlin Koska (Franklin, Wis.) led the Seton Hall attack with a match-high 10 kills to go with six digs. Claire Forrest (Pasadena, Calif.), Amanda Rachwal (Bethlehem, Pa.) and Emilee Turner (Kaysville, Utah) all had at least four kills and an attack percentage of .400. Seniors Cherise Hennigan (Corona, Calif.) and Abby Thelen (Ft. Mitchell, Ky.) had six kills apiece in a strong balanced offensive effort.

SET 1:
Sacred Heart jumped out to a 6-4 lead in set one, but the Pirates responded with an 8-1 run to force a Pioneers timeout and give The Hall a 12-7 advantage. Sacred Heart cut the Pirate led to one, but never drew even, and the Pirates methodically grew the lead throughout the remainder of the set. A kill by Forrest was the clincher and gave The Hall a 25-19 first set win. The Pirates hit a match-high .355 attack percentage in the opening frame.

SET 2:
Seton Hall never trailed again in the match. The Pirates led set two, wire-to-wire, and scored nine of the first 11 points to set an early tone. A kill by Koska extended the Pirates lead to a set-high 12 points at 23-11, and they went on to easily win set two, 25-14.

SET 3:
Set three was more of the same as the Pirates never fell behind. The Hall scored six of the first eight points in the set to take an early lead. The advantage grew to a commanding 10 points, 15-5, on a kill by Thelen, and the Pirates didn't look back. Seton Hall cruised to a 25-12 set three win, and match sweep.

Inside the Numbers:

Koska finished with a match-high 10 kills.
Turner had seven kills and a .400 attack percentage.
Hennigan and Thelen had six kills apiece.
Rachwal had five kills and six blocks.
Freshman Eden Dolezal (La Porte, Ind.) had a match-high 12 digs to go with five assists.
Seton Hall recorded a .322 attack percentage for the match, while Sacred Heart attacked at .062.
The Hall had 40 team kills, while the Pioneers had 28.
The Pirates totaled 34 team digs, while the Sacred Heart had 32.

News & Notes:

Seton Hall improves to 4-3 on the young season, while Sacred Heart falls to 4-2
With the win, Seton Hall improves to 4-0 all-time against the Pioneers.
Coffey played in her 100^th consecutive match, which leads all active Pirates. She has not missed a match since arriving in South Orange prior to the 2015 season.
The Pirates improved to 2-2 in three-set matches.
The Hall is now 4-0 this season when it has more kills than its opponent.

Up Next:
The Pirates will return to action tomorrow when it continues play at the Thunderdome Classic, in Santa Barbara, California. The Pirates will face Texas Tech at 1:00 p.m. ET and host UC Santa Barbara at 10:00 p.m. ET.