Pirates Battle, but Fall at Towson, 3-1

Saturday, September 14

Towson, Md. / TU Arena

4:00 PM

Seton Hall University

5-4,0-0Big East

Towson

9-1,0-0CAA

Seton Hall

Towson

Reagan Merk gets ready to spike the ball against Kent State on Sept. 8

9/14/2024 6:44:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score BOX SCORE (.pdf)

TOWSON, MD. – Senior Reagan Merk (Huntington Beach, Calif.) collected her second double-double of the day, but the Seton Hall women's volleyball team fell to Towson, 3-1 (21-25, 26-24, 22-25, 20-25), on Saturday.

The loss snaps a five-match winning streak for the Pirates and completes their play at the Towson Invitational with a 2-1 record after four-set victories against Coppin State and Loyola (Md.). Merk and Asli Subasili (Tekirdag, Turkiye) were named to the All-Tournament Team.

Merk finished with a team-high 12 kills to go with 13 digs, three blocks and two service aces. Senior Jenna Walsh (Foothill Ranch, Calif.) had 11 kills. Senior Maddie Klungel (Napa, Calif.) had a team-high 25 assists to go with six digs.

SET 1:
Trailing 11-6, The Hall scored four of the next five points to cut its deficit to 12-10 in the first set. Towson responded with four in a row, jumping back up by six and forcing a Seton Hall timeout. Down 23-18, the Pirates had back-to-back kills by Loiselle and Grace Turner (La Grange Highlands, Ill.), and the Tigers took a timeout. Towson regrouped, however, and won the first set, 25-21. The Pirates fell in the opening set despite committing only one attack error and collecting an impressive .320 attack percentage.

SET 2:
Seton Hall jumped out to a 7-1 lead to open the third set, and never trailed. After a block by Merk and Subasili, an attack error by Towson gave The Hall a commanding 13-5 advantage and forced a Tigers timeout. A kill by Subasili gave The Hall its largest lead of the set, 20-11. Down 21-12, Towson made a furious late charge, staving off three set points and using a 12-3 run to tie the score at 24. The Hall regrouped, and back-to-back kills by Walsh and Merk gave it a dramatic 26-24 set two victory to tie the match.

SET 3:
The third set featured 11 ties and five lead changes. Trailing 21-18, The Hall scored four of the next five points and a kill by Walsh tied the set at 22. Towson, however, bounced back and scored the last three points of the set, consecutively, to win 25-22.

SET 4:
With the score tied at 12 in set four, Towson scored three straight and forced a Seton Hall timeout. Down 18-13, back-to-back kills by Walsh sent the Tigers to a timeout. A kill by Subasili cut The Hall's deficit to 21-19, but Towson scored three straight to enter match point, 24-19, and after a Perri Lucas (Chicago, Ill.) kill, Towson closed out the match, 25-20.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

Merk finished with 12 kills, 13 digs, three blocks and two aces.
Walsh had 11 kills and two digs.
Klungel collected a team-high 25 assists to go with six digs.
Lucas had six kills and only one attack error.
Subasili notched six digs, five kills and three blocks.
Sophomore Maddy Loiselle (Lutz, Fla.) had eight kills.
Seton Hall recorded a .209 attack percentage for the match, while Towson attacked at .241.
The Pirates had 49 kills, while Towson had 56.
The Hall recorded 59 digs, while the Tigers had 71.
Seton Hall collected 5.0 blocks and Towson had 11.0.

NEWS & NOTES:

The Hall snaps a five-match win streak and drops to 5-4, while Towson improves to 9-1.
Seton Hall is now 1-4 all-time against the Tigers.
Merk's double-double is her second of the day and third of the season.
Merk and Subasili were named to the Towson Invitational All-Tournament Team.

UP NEXT:
The Pirates will return to action on Tuesday, September 17 when they make the short trip to Brooklyn for a match at LIU. Its start is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.