Box Score

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - The Villanova volleyball team was unable to finish a comeback attempt against the Seton Hall Pirates, falling 27-25, 25-14, 17-25, 21-25, 15-11 at Walsh Gymnasium on Saturday night.

The Wildcats (17-10, 8-6 BIG EAST) dropped the first two sets of the match to Seton Hall (14-14, 8-7 BIG EAST), but rallied to win the next two frames to extend the match into the fifth set. While the Wildcats were successful in their first five-set match of the season in yesterday's battle against St. John's, Villanova could not win the decisive fifth frame tonight against the Pirates.

Both senior Claire Crutchfield (Falls Church, Va./Bishop O'Connell) and junior Allison Fitzgerald (St. Louis, Mo./ Visitation Academy) eclipsed 1,000 career marks on the day, as Crutchfield connected on 12 kills in the match finishing the match with 1,008 career kills, while Fitzgerald added 12 digs in the contest to total 1,010 digs in her career.

Crutchfield was one of four Wildcats to finish the match in double-figures in kills, with Darcy Wolf (Allentown, Pa./Central Catholic) leading the way with a career-high 15 kills. Michaela Berendt (Olympia, Wash./Olympia) and Amanda Pedersen-Henry (Murrieta, Calif./Vista Murrieta) smashed 13 kills on the night for the Wildcats.

Berendt also played well defensively with nine total blocks on the night. Regan Lough (Riverside, Calif./Martin Luther King) led the Cats with 19 digs, and Makenzie Northrup (San Clemente, Calif./ San Clemente) tallied 10.

Emma Decker (LaGrange, Ill./Nazareth Academy) averaged exactly 10 assists per set, with 50 assists against the Pirates.

The Pirates were led offensively by Danielle Schroeder and Dominique Mason, who combined to register 35 kills. Tessa Fournier logged 23 digs defensively.

With the opening set tied at 6-6, a 6-2 run for Seton Hall gave the Pirates a 12-8 advantage. After a Villanova timeout, the Pirates extended their lead to 17-12. The Wildcats slashed the Seton Hall advantage to just two at 19-17, and traded points with the Pirates. Villanova tied the match at 23-23, 24-24, 25-25 but Seton Hall earned the last two points of the set, as the Pirates took the opening set 27-25.

The Pirates controlled the second frame, starting the match on a 10-4 run and ultimately outpaced the Wildcats 25-14 to take a 2-0 lead.

Both teams exchanged points to start the set with Villanova taking a slight 11-8 advantage. After a Seton Hall timeout, the Wildcats kept the lead, extending their lead to 19-15. Villanova led the rest of the way, finishing the frame on a 6-0 run as Villanova won their first set of the match.

With the fourth set tied at 10-10, Villanova jumped to a 19-15 lead after a 9-5 run featuring multiple kills from Pedersen-Henry and Crutchfield. The Wildcats expanded their advantage to 22-15. Seton Hall cut the lead to two at 23-21, but Berendt earned back-to-back kills to extend the match into a fifth set.

The final frame saw the Wildcats and Pirates swap points with the set tied at 8-8. Villanova took a 9-8 edge after a Seton Hall error. A 3-0 Pirate run gave Seton Hall a 11-9 advantage. Seton Hall was able to keep its lead taking the final set 15-11 to win the match.

Villanova returns to action next Saturday at noon when they host Xavier on the BIG EAST Digital Network at Jake Nevin Field House. Senior day will take place the following day when the Wildcats play their final home match of the regular season against Butler at 2 p.m.