PREVIEW
The Pirates will return to Walsh Gymnasium this weekend to host their second tournament of the season, the Seton Hall Classic. The Hall will host Central Connecticut State at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 16, followed by Dartmouth and NJIT on Saturday, Sept. 17.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Friday, September 16
Dartmouth vs. NJIT – 4:30 p.m.
Central Connecticut State at SETON HALL – 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, September 17
NJIT vs. Central Connecticut State – 10:00 a.m.
Dartmouth at SETON HALL – 12:30 p.m.
Central Connecticut State vs. Dartmouth – 4:30 p.m.
NJIT at SETON HALL – 7:00 p.m.
MEDIA
All three of Seton Hall's matches this weekend will be streamed live by the Pirate Sports Network and shown on FloSports. WSOU FM will also cover each of Seton Hall's contests. All six matches will be available via Live Stats. The non-Seton Hall matches will not be streamed.
LAST WEEK
Seton Hall hit a bump in the non-conference road last weekend at the Sacred Heart Invitational. After sweeping the hosts on Saturday, they fell to Stony Brook in five sets and to Princeton in four sets on Sunday. Junior
Bianca Bucciarelli (Carate Brianza, Italy) had a team-high 10 kills as the Pirates swept Sacred Heart, 3-0 (25-23, 25-17, 25-21), to open the weekend. Bucciarelli had 10 kills, only one attack error and an impressive .429 attack percentage. Meanwhile the Pirates' defense was stout again, recording 8.0 team blocks including seven from freshman
Asli Subasili (Tekirdag, Turkey). Sophomore
Anna Holland (Waukesha, Wis.) had 14 digs in only three sets.
Junior
Taylor Jakubowski (Lake in the Hills, Ill.) had a double-double and both
Jenna Walsh (Foothill Ranch, Calif.) and
Perri Lucas (Chicago, Ill.) had 13 kills, but the Pirates fell to Stony Brook, 3-2 (21-25, 25-20, 25-27, 25-13, 7-15), on Sunday. Jakubowski had a team-high 27 assists to go with 10 digs. Holland and
Maddie Klungel (Napa, Calif.) nearly had a double-double. Klungel had 20 assists and nine digs, while Holland had 21 digs and nine assists.
Finally, Walsh and junior
Laila Wallace (Munster, Ind.) combined for 26 kills, but The Hall fell to Princeton, 3-1 (22-25, 25-19, 16-25, 23-25), on Sunday in the Sacred Heart Invitational finale. Walsh had 13 kills, only two attack errors and four digs, while Wallace had a career-high 13 kills, only two attack errors, four blocks and a team-best .550 attack percentage.
SCOUTING CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE
Seton Hall and Central Connecticut State will meet for the 14th time in history on Friday with the Pirates having won 12 of the prior 13 matches. The teams haven't met since the Blue Devils shocked The Hall in five sets on September 12, 2009 at the Rose Hill Invitational in the Bronx.
The Blue Devils are coming off a disappointing 9-17 season in 2021. CCSU lost the first seven matches of the campaign and couldn't full dig out of the early hole. Their season came to an end in the second round of the NEC Tournament with a five-set loss to Bryant. Nyjha Marcelin was named to the All-NEC Second Team.
This year, the Blue Devils were picked to finish fourth in the eight-team NEC according to the preseason coaches' poll. Marcelin returns after earning All-Northeast Conference Second Team honors last season. Senior setter Natalie Novak and junior opposite Isabelle Roufs are also among an experienced group of CCSU returnees looking to return to the league tournament. Linda Sagnelli return 23rd season as head coach of the Blue Devils. She is the program's all-time winningest coach with 335 career victories.
CCSU enters this weekend with a 5-3 overall record and a four-match win streak. They opened the season with a four-set loss to BIG EAST foe Providence, going 1-2 at the Iona Invitational. The following weekend, the Blue Devils swept Saint Peter's and Columbia, but were swept by Binghamton. Most recently, they swept Hartford on Tuesday. The Blue Devils haven't lost a set over their last four matches.
SCOUTING DARTMOUTH
Seton Hall and Dartmouth will meet for only the fourth time in history with the Pirates having won two of the prior three meetings. Most recently, the Big Green swept the Pirates on September 14, 2018 as part of the Hofstra Invitational in Hempstead, N.Y.
Dartmouth is coming off a successful 15-8 campaign last season. The Big Green finished the season with five straight wins before dropping their finale to Brown, the Ivy League Champions. Ellie Blain and Emma Engstrom were named Second Team All-Ivy.
This season, the Big Green were picked to finish fifth in the eight-team Ivy League according to the preseason coaches' poll. Blain and Engstrom return to bolster the Dartmouth lineup.
Dartmouth enters this weekend having won six of their first seven matches this season and brings a four-match winning streak to South Orange. The Big Green won two of three matches at the UCI Invitational, including a four-set victory over Sacred Heart, an opponent for Seton Hall last week. Dartmouth defeated Siena, Lehigh, Merrimack and Hartford, losing only two sets along the way, last weekend at their own Dartmouth Invitational.
SCOUTING NJIT
Seton hall and NJIT will meet for the eighth time in history on Saturday with the Pirates having won six of the prior seven meetings. Most recently, the Pirates swept NJIT last year.
The Highlanders are coming off a rough 2021 that saw victories in only two of 27 matches. Their season came to an end with a five-match losing streak and a sweep at the hands of Hartford on Nov. 12.
This season, NJIT was picked to finish sixth in the six-team NEC according to the preseason coaches' poll. In addition to the four newcomers, the Highlanders bring back 12 members of the 2021 squad, including five seniors, two juniors, and five sophomores. Top returners include Ines Varela, who was named to the All-Rookie Team in 2021, Adriana Goetz-Morales, the team's top offensive threat last season (200 kills, 2.35 k/s), and Courtney Branch, who tallied 91.0 blocks to lead the Highlanders in 2021.
NJIT enters this weekend with a 3-9 record. They dropped seven of their first eight contests, but swept Saint Peter's on Aug. 30. Their fortunes appear to be turning around, however, since they've gone 2-2 over their last four matches. NJIT outlasted Holy Cross in five sets on Sept. 9 and swept Saint Peter's again the following day.
UP NEXT
Next weekend, Seton Hall will officially open the BIG EAST portion of their schedule when they welcome Connecticut and Providence to Walsh Gym. The Pirates will host the Huskies on Friday and the Friars on Saturday with both matches starting at 6:00 p.m. Both matches will also be streamed live by the Pirate Sports Network on FloSports.
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