Five-Game Winning Streak Snapped as Seton Hall Stuns Blackbirds, 3-2

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10/3/06 --The Long Island University volleyball team suffered a 3-2 (15-30, 22-30, 30-22, 30-27, 15-13) loss to Seton Hall Tuesday night at the Wellness, Recreation and Athletic Center. The Blackbirds took the first two games only to see Seton Hall fight back to force a deciding fifth game and come back from a 6-0 deficit in that frame to take the match.

The loss overshadowed Martina Wagner’s (Friedrichshafen, Germany) 14th double-double of the season. The junior set a career high with 31 kills and tied a season-high with 20 digs. Wagner eclipsed her previous career high of 26 kills, set last season against Northern Colorado. At one point after the second game, Wagner had more kills (14) than the entire Seton Hall squad (13).

Two other Blackbirds notched double figures in kills. Junior Shelby Heggie (Laramie, Wyo.) had 17, while sophomore Martina Racic (Porec, Croatia) registered her first career double-double with 16 kills and 10 digs.

Long Island (11-9) cruised to a win in the first game, overpowering the Pirates, 30-15. The Blackbirds appeared to have the match in hand after scoring the first eight points of game two. A 30-21 win led to a two-games-to-none hole for Seton Hall.

After the Pirates (11-7) played Long Island tight to take game three, Seton Hall capitalized on a series of miscues to force a fifth frame. LIU bolted to a 6-0 lead in game five, but the Pirates chipped away at that lead and used six straight points of their own to take a 10-7 lead that Long Island would not overcome.

Allie Matters led Seton Hall with 21 kills and 19 digs. Long Island held a significant edge in the kill category, 79-56. As a team, the Blackbirds hit .242, compared to the Pirates’ .198.

LIU will return to action at the Wellness Center on Friday, Oct. 6, when the Blackbirds host Army at 6:00 p.m.