Seton Hall will return to action this week for its final two matches of the 2023 regular season. The Pirates will travel to Chicago to take on DePaul on Fri...
shupirates.com
The Hall will face DePaul on Friday and Marquette on Saturday in the regular season's final two matches.
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – McGrath-Phillips Arena
SETON HALL (14-13, 8-8) vs. DE PAUL (15-12, 8-8) | | | | | |
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Date | Time | Live Video | Live Audio | Live Stats | Twitter |
Fri., Nov. 17 | 8:00 PM ET | | None | | @SHUVolley |
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – Al McGuire Center
SETON HALL (14-13. 8-8) vs. MARQUETTE (18-9, 14-2) | | | | | |
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Date | Time | Live Video | Live Audio | Live Stats | Twitter |
Sat., Nov. 18 | 7:00 PM ET | | None | | @SHUVolley |
PREVIEW
Seton Hall will return to action this week for its final two matches of the 2023 regular season. The Pirates will travel to Chicago to take on DePaul on Friday, before heading to Milwaukee to face Marquette on Saturday.
MEDIA
Both matches will be streamed live and available for FloSports subscribers. Both will also have live stats.
LAST WEEK
Seton Hall split its final two home games of the season last week. The Hall had a thrilling three-set sweep of St. John's on Nov. 8 before falling to No. 15 Creighton on Nov. 10.
The Pirates collected 14.0 team blocks and held St. John's to an attack percentage of just .009 in a stunning 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-20) sweep of the Red Storm. St. John's, which came into the match tied for first place in the BIG EAST Conference with Creighton and Marquette, couldn't find its offensive footing, making 30 attack errors thanks in large part to the Pirates' staunch front line. Senior
Bianca Bucciarelli (Carate Brianza, Italy) had a match-high 11 kills to go with five digs and three blocks.
Junior
Hanna Tulli (Collegeville, Pa.) had a team-high nine kills, but The Hall fell to No. 15 Creighton, 3-0 (17-25, 18-25, 21-25), despite a spirited effort on Senior Night. Creighton showed why it's one of the premier offensive programs in the country, collecting 57 kills and a .465 attack percentage without allowing the Pirates to record a single block.
PLAYOFF RACE
It all comes down to this. Seton Hall finds itself tied for fifth place in the BIG EAST standings with two matches left. The top six teams in the final standings will qualify for the BIG EAST Tournament.
1. Creighton (14-2)
Marquette (14-2)
3. St. John's (12-4)
4. Xavier (11-6)
5. SETON HALL (8-8)
DePaul (8-8)
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7. Villanova 7-9
8. Butler 7-10
DePaul will play Seton Hall and St. John's. Villanova will face the two weakest teams in the BIG EAST in Providence and Connecticut. Villanova has the head-to-head tie-breaker against Seton Hall. The Pirates currently have the tie-breaker over DePaul, but the teams play on Friday.
SCOUTING DE PAUL
On Friday, Seton Hall and DePaul will meet for the 28th time in history. The Pirates have an impressive 21-6 all-time record against the Blue Demons, but DePaul has dominated the series in recent years. Earlier this season, The Hall edged DePaul in five sets in Walsh Gym.
Graduate student
Madeline Matheny (Wilmington, Del.) had a career-high 19 kills and the Pirates edged DePaul, 3-2 (25-20, 20-25, 25-19, 26-28, 19-17), in a wild, back-and-forth affair on Oct 14. Matheny was brilliant, collected a double-double with a career-high 19 kills, with only five attack errors, and a season-high 17 digs.
In all, four Pirates collected at least 12 kills. Senior
Perri Lucas (Chicago, Ill.) had 13 kills and three blocks. Tulli had career-highs of 12 kills and eight blocks, while freshman
Senna Roberts-Navarro (Honolulu, Hawaii) also tallied 12 kills. Roberts-Navarro collected 11 of her 12 kills in the fourth and fifth sets.
DePaul enters Friday's pivotal contest with a 15-12 overall record and an 8-8 mark in BIG EAST play. They came up with a pair of huge four-set road victories last weekend at Villanova and at Georgetown to remain locked in the standings with Seton Hall. DePaul's Jill Pressly currently leads the BIG EAST with 4.69 kills per set and Rachel Krasowski leads with 5.19 digs per set.
SCOUTING MARQUETTE
Seton Hall and Marquette will meet on Saturday for the 29th time in history. The Golden Eagles have dominated the series, winning 23 of the prior 28 meetings, including the last 14 matches. The Pirates' last victory in the series came in five sets in the semifinals of the 2014 BIG EAST Tournament. Most recently, The Hall fell to Marquette in four sets on Oct. 13.
Matheny had a team-high 11 kills, and the Pirates rallied to win a set, but ultimately fell to Marquette, 3-1 (16-25, 25-19, 14-25, 19-25). Seton Hall's victory in set two was only the third set Marquette had lost in seven BIG EAST matches up to that point in season. Matheny had a team-high 11 kills to go with seven digs and three aces to lead The Hall's offense. Lucas had nine kills and seven digs, while Bucciarelli had eight kills and nine digs.
Marquette enters the weekend with an 18-9 overall record and tied for the BIG EAST lead with a 14-2 mark in conference play. They had won five in a row before being swept by Creighton on Nov. 5. Last weekend, they swept Georgetown on Friday and defeated Villanova in four sets on Saturday.
UP NEXT
After this weekend, we will know if the Pirates have qualified for the BIG EAST Tournament. If they do, the first round of the BIG EAST Tournament will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 22 in Milwaukee, Wis.