Photo Courtesy of Mark Campbell

Boxscore

NEWARK, Del. –Four Blue Hens posted double-digit kill performances as the University of Delaware volleyball team rebounded from an early deficit to record a 3-2 (24-26, 25-7, 23-25, 25-19, 15-13) victory over Seton Hall on Wednesday night at Viera Court.

Senior captain Michelle LaLonde (at right) had an impressive showing to lead the Blue Hen offensive attack as the standout middle hitter posted 17 kills and notched a team-best .395 hitting percentage. Kim Stewart also recorded 18 kills, while Alissa Alker and Katie Dennehy chipped in with 14 and 13 respectively.

During the match, Delaware (6-5) dropped the first set of the contest and later fell behind 2-1 following the mid-match intermission, but the squad responded by taking the final two frames from Seton Hall (6-10) to complete the comeback victory.

After dropping the third set, the Hens came out fighting. With their backs against the wall, the squad refused to quit. In the early going of the fourth set, the team took advantage of three kills apiece by LaLonde and Stewart to grab a convincing 11-6 lead heading into a Seton Hall timeout.

The break did little to cool off Stewart as the sophomore came blazing out of the stoppage with three more kills. Her performance was also aided by a sensational effort from Jess Chason as the team’s stellar setter made an incredible diving play on a ricochet to keep a rally alive. Eventually, Katie Dennehy and Paige Erickson put the exclamation mark on that battle as the two stuffed a Seton Hall attack.

Later, Delaware pulled out to a 20-16 lead before another Pirate timeout. Although the visitors won the next rally, the Hens took off. A pair of Seton Hall errors, along with kills from LaLonde and Dennehy, gave the team set point at 24-19. Steph Barry quickly iced the frame on the next rally as the All-American blasted an ace.

With the match even at two, the squads had a seesaw battle going in the pivotal fifth set. Early blasts from Erickson, Dennehy, LaLonde, and Alker were matched by a strong showing by Seton Hall’s Sarah Osmun. Eventually, the squads found themselves dead-locked at five.

Still tied at 10, LaLonde ripped a shot and the Pirates misfired on an attack of their own to give Delaware at 12-10 lead. Following a Seton Hall timeout, the squad retied the set before the Hens pulled away for good.

Erickson broke the tie with a kill, and after the junior middle hitter teamed with Dennehy on a block, Delaware grabbed match point at 14-13. Although Seton Hall stayed alive for one more rally, Dennehy completed the Delaware comeback with her 13th kill of the night to seal a 15-13 victory.

Throughout the match, the Blue Hen offense was paced perfectly by Chason, who finished the contest with a season-high 58 assists. Steph Barry also chipped in with 22 digs to guide the defensive effort.

After playing before a record-setting crowd during their previous match at the Bob Carpenter Center, the Blue Hens seemed quite comfortable early on in their return trip to the cozy confines at Viera Court. The squad jumped out to a 12-9 lead in the first set following an ace, block, and kill by Erickson.

Although the team eventually extended its lead to four at 18-14, Delaware slowly began to lose its grasp on the set. Seton Hall whittled its deficit down to three at 22-19, and after a timeout, the squad took three straight rallies to knot the set at 22.

Despite a timeout by Delaware, the Pirates kept their momentum. An ace by Kalie Marshall gave Seton Hall the lead, and after two late blocks by Krissy Wrobel, the squad walked away with a 26-24 victory.

Unfazed by their deficit, the Hens answered with fury. The hosts took eight of the first nine rallies, highlighted by three kills from Alker and back-to-back blasts by LaLonde, to grab a convincing lead. Still unsatisfied, Delaware later took five straight rallies, kicked off by kills from Chason and Stewart, to take a 14-2 advantage.

With everything falling their way, the Hens ran away with an incredible 25-7 victory. Dennehy and Stewart both blasted a pair of kills over the waning moments of the set to lead Delaware to its most lop-sided, single-set victory since a 30-8 drubbing of George Mason in 2007.

Sadly, the momentum from such an impressive victory began to wear off in the third set. Although Delaware took a 9-6 lead heading into a Seton Hall timeout, the Pirates battled back. The squad eventually chipped its deficit down to one at 11-10 before the Blue Hen offense came back with its own mid-set surge.

Two kills by Alker and an outstanding block from LaLonde and Stewart allowed the squad to grab its largest lead of the set at 19-14. With a victory in sight, Delaware could not close out the frame. After Stewart fired an ace, Seton Hall came back to win five straight rallies to grab its first lead at 22-21.

Although the Hens came back to knot the set on a kill by Dennehy, the Pirates used a pair of kills by Osmun and one by Morgan DeVries to seal a 25-23 victory.

Despite the setback, Delaware overcame that two-sets-to-one deficit with an impressive showing in the final two frames.

The Pirates were led by Osmun, who posted a team-high 18 kills. Meghan Matusiak also had 17 in the losing effort.

Delaware will be back in action on Friday when the team begins conference action with a 7 p.m. showdown against George Mason at the Carpenter Sports Building.