Pirates Drop Close Battle at St. John's, 3-1 - Seton Hall University Athletics
Junior Bianca Bucciarelli (Carate Brianza, Italy) erupted for a career-high 20 kills, but the Seton Hall women's volleyball team fell at St. John's, 3-...
1 Seton Hall 13-6,4-3 Big East 
3 St. John's (NY) 14-6,5-2 Big East Set Scores
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Bianca Bucciarelli had a career-high 20 kills in the setback in Queens.
QUEENS, N.Y. – Junior Bianca Bucciarelli (Carate Brianza, Italy) erupted for a career-high 20 kills, but the Seton Hall women's volleyball team fell at St. John's, 3-1 (16-25, 24-26, 26-24, 22-25), on Wednesday.
After a rough first set for The Hall, the Pirates and Red Storm played three very competitive sets, which featured 21 ties and eight lead changes. The Pirates showed character in outlasting St. John's in set three after a heart-breaking set two loss, but couldn't find the equalizer in set four.
Bucciarelli had a career-high 20 kills to go with five digs and two blocks. Jenna Walsh (Foothill Ranch, Calif.) tallied 14 kills, only four attack errors, four digs, three aces and three blocks in a strong all-around match. Junior Taylor Jakubowski (Lake in the Hills, Ill.) finished with 27 assists and eight digs.
SET 1:
A service ace by Jakubowski tied the first set at 12, but St. John's bounced back with a 6-1 run to take an 18-13 lead. A kill by Laila Wallace (Munster, Ind.) cut The Hall's deficit to 19-15, but St. John's closed out the first set with six out of the last seven points to win, 25-16. Seton Hall had only a -.103 attack percentage, while St. John's erupted for .440.
SET 2:
Trailing 7-4 in the second set, The Hall went on an 8-2 run, and back-to-back aces by Walsh gave The Hall a 12-9 advantage. A block by Wallace and Maddie Klungel (Napa, Calif.) extended the Pirates' lead to 16-12, but St. John's bounced back with seven of the next nine points to jump on top, 19-18. Facing set point, 24-23, a kill by Bucciarelli tied the set at 24, but St. John's scored the final two points of the second frame to win, 26-24.
SET 3:
The Hall opened the third set with five of the first six points capped by a kill from Perri Lucas (Chicago, Ill.). Trailing 11-8, St. John's scored four straight to grab a 12-11 advantage. The Pirates struck back with four straight points to go back on top, 15-12, and force a Red Storm timeout. The Red Storm cut their deficit to 20-19, but The Hall scored four of the next five points to enter set point, 24-20. St. John's staved off four set points to tie the set at 24, but Bucciarelli put The Hall back in set point, and a St. John's attack error was the winner for the Pirates, 26-24.
SET 4:
The Hall raced out of the gate again in set four and a kill by Walsh gave it a 10-7 lead. St. John's responded with an 11-2 run to take an 18-12 advantage and force a Pirates timeout. The Hall bounced back with three straight points to cut their deficit in half. Down 22-18, a kill, followed by an ace from Walsh, crept the Pirates to within two, 22-20, and sent St. John's to a timeout. The Red Storm awakened, however, and closed out the fourth set, 25-22.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Bucciarelli had a team-high 20 kills to go with five digs and two blocks.
- Walsh had 14 kills, only four attack errors, four digs, three blocks and three service aces.
- Jakubowski tallied a team-high 27 assists to go with eight digs.
- Klungel had 13 assists and five blocks.
- Sophomore Anna Holland (Waukesha, Wis.) had a team-high 13 kills to go with three assists.
- Freshman Asli Subasili (Tekirdag, Turkey) tallied a team-high six blocks and four digs.
- Seton Hall recorded a .152 attack percentage for the match, while St. John's attacked at .256.
- The Pirates had 47 kills, while the Red Storm recorded 60.
- The Hall tallied 39 digs, while St. John's had 50.
- Seton Hall had 11.0 team blocks, while the Red Storm recorded 13.0.
- Seton Hall drops to 13-6 overall and 4-3 in the BIG EAST, while St. John's improves to 14-6 overall and 5-2 in conference play.
- The Hall is now 18-20 all-time against St. John's. The Red Storm have now won eight of the last nine meetings.
- Seton Hall drops to 4-3 this season in four-set matches.
- The Hall falls to 2-5 when losing the first set this season.
- With three kills today, Lucas surpassed the 600-kills mark for her career.
- This was Seton Hall's first Wednesday match of the season.
- With 27 assists and eight digs today, Jakubowski surpassed the 1,200-assists and 600-digs marks for her career.
- With 20 kills today, Bucciarelli surpassed the 300-kills mark for her career.
Seton Hall will return to action when it travels to Indianapolis, Ind. for a match at Butler on Friday, Oct. 14. Match time is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.
