Box Score
NEWARK, NJ—Seton Hall made the short trip from South Orange, NJ, and upended NJIT, 3-1, in women's volleyball action Wednesday night in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center.
The Pirates, who snapped a brief two-match losing streak, upped their season record to 12-12 with the 25-16, 21-25, 25-14, 25-20 victory over the Highlanders (7-12).
Seton Hall's overall record is a bit misleading, as the Pirates are 3-6 in the rugged Big East Conference, but they finished their non-conference schedule at 9-6 after defeating NJIT. Before the two-match skid, Seton Hall had won 6 of 7. NJIT, which won 5 in a row from September 25 through October 16, now has back-to-back losses after falling at Lehigh on October 19 and then at home to Seton Hall 11 nights later.
Seton Hall had 56 kills to 36 for the Highlanders, but SHU did not have an individual with more than 9 kills. Instead, the winners got kills from 10 different hitters. Simona Sekulova paced The Hall with 9 kills, while Amanda Hansen and Molly Grammer notched 8 apiece, and Stacey Manthorpe had 7 kills. Two setters reached double-figure assists totals, led by junior Shelbey Manthorpe, Stacey's twin sister and a 1st-team All-Big East pick in 2012, (21 assists) and Sara Connell (10). Seton Hall had 3 total service aces, all of which came from different players.
Alyssa Warren's 17 digs for Seton Hall were match-high, while Sekulova led Seton Hall's defense at the net with 3 block assists.
The only hitter in double-figures for NJIT was
Cathy Leung, who led all players with 10 kills. In the middle,
Valerie Carroll posted an impressive attack percentage of .714 (5 kills, 0 errors, 7 attempts), while
Fran Edmondson added 7 kills and just one error.
Edmondson finished with 19 assists and
Grace Gao, in her most extensive action since September 11, played in all four sets and collected 11 assists.
NJIT, which had an 8-3 advantage in service aces, got 3 from
Danica Vukotic and 2 from Leung.
On defense, libero
Katie Goswick had 10 digs, followed by
Danica Vukotic and Edmondson, with 7 each. At the net, the Highlanders held an 8-6 edge in team blocks against Seton Hall's tall lineup. Carroll led all players with 5 blocks (all assisted) and
Nina Vukotic added 3 block assists to the NJIT cause.
Seton Hall won the first set comfortably, 25-16, led by Jamie Froning, who posted 3 of her 6 kills for the match in the opening stanza. NJIT was hurt by errors on offense and on defense in the first set. The Highlanders had 6 attack errors (against 8 kills); 5 service errors (against 2 aces); and, 2 of their 3 receiving errors (the defensive stat that registers when the opponent serves an ace) for the night in the one set. Seton Hall took the lead permanently at 3-2 and led by as many as 12 (24-12).
NJIT cleaned up its play significantly in the second set, committing just 3 attack errors and no service errors, while outblocking the visitors, 4-1, en route to a 25-21 win in the frame. Edmondson and Carroll combined for 7 kills without an error in the set. There were 13 ties and 5 lead changes, the last when Carroll buried a kill to make it 21-20 for the Highlanders, who finished the set, 5-1.
The third set was another blowout for Seton Hall, which more than doubled NJIT's team kills total (15-6). Tied at 6-6, Seton Hall pulled away with an 11-1 run, fueled by 5 Highlander attack errors.
The 25-20 fourth set was competitive despite the fact that the only lead change came early, at 2-1 on a Stacey Manthorpe kill, assisted by her sister, Shelbey. NJIT, which trailed 13-19 and 14-20, trimmed the deficit to 19-21 on Leung's ace. However, the Pirates closed out the set and match with a 4-1 spurt.
With three matches remaining on the 2013 schedule, NJIT returns to action on Sunday, November 3, at 2 pm, when the Highlanders entertain Fairleigh Dickinson in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center. The women's volleyball seniors will be honored before the match.
FDU got its first win of the year when it edged the Highlanders, 3-2, in the first meeting this season on September 18 in Hackensack.
