Volleyball defeats Seton Hall in four

Box Score (PDF)

SOUTH ORANGE, New Jersey – The Marquette University women's volleyball team used four sets to defeat Seton Hall on Friday evening at Walsh Gymnasium.

Graduate students Hope Werch and Taylor Wolf led the Golden Eagles (20-4, 11-2 BIG EAST) with 14 kills apiece, with Werch also contributing four aces and 13 digs. Wolf posted 20 assists and Claire Mosher had 32 to pace the MU offense to a .275 attack percentage (66-22-160).

Hannah Vanden Berg added 12 kills and a match-high six blocks for Marquette, while Jenna Reitsma and Carsen Murray each had nine kills.

Reitsma led Marquette to a 25-21 opening set victory with seven kills on 11 errorless swings. The freshman outside hitter hit .636 to pace MU, which hit a combined .333 and never trailed after falling behind 3-2 early.

The Golden Eagles jumped ahead 8-5 early in the second frame, but could not recover from a 9-1 SHU run that put the Pirates ahead for good at 14-9. MU would narrow the margin to a single point late, 23-22, but SHU took two of the final three points for a 25-23 win. Marquette hit .300 in the second, but was topped by a .378 mark from the Pirates.

MU claimed the third set, 25-18, for the match advantage while hitting .412 (17-3-34). Seton Hall hit just .074 in the frame with six hitting errors against eight kills.

The Golden Eagles held on for a 25-22 win in the fourth and final frame after SHU rallied to pull within one, 22-21. Vanden Berg responded with a kill out of a timeout and MU took three of the final four points for the match victory.

Tsvetelina Ilieva led Seton Hall (12-15, 4-9 BIG EAST) with 11 kills and the Pirates hit a combined .183 (40-17-126)

MU holds the all-time edge over the Pirates 20-5, boasting a 11-match winning streak. The Golden Eagles won the matchup earlier this year at the Al McGuire Center, a 3-1 victory on Oct. 16.

Saturday's 3 p.m. CT contest against St. John's at Carnesecca Arena will be available on the BIG EAST Digital Network through FloSports.

Keep up with the Marquette University women's volleyball program through social media by following on Twitter (@MarquetteVB) and Instagram (@MarquetteVB) and 'liking' on Facebook (/MarquetteVolleyball).