Sept. 16, 2006

Final Stats

VILLANOVA, Pa. (September 16, 2006) - The Sacred Heart Pioneers lost a pair of matches Saturday afternoon at the Villanova Classic, falling in three to the host Wildcats and in five to Holy Cross. SHU finishes the weekend 0-3 and are now 1-8 on the season.

The Wildcats posted wins of 30-19, 30-12 and 30-21 in the first match of the day and the Crusaders paid the Pioneers back for an earlier loss this season by winning in five. SHU took the first game 30-23 but lost the next two, 30-28 and 30-26. The Pioneers rebounded in game four, 30-24, to force the deciding game five but Holy Cross never let SHU in the game, running away to a 15-5 win.

A trio of Pioneers posted double digit kills against Holy Cross led by freshman Annie Archer (Littleton, CO) who came away with 12 to go along with her block and six block assists. Senior Justina Bell (Holcomb, KS) posted 11 kills and a .346 (11-2-26) hitting percentage and came away with 21 digs for a double double.

Fellow senior Charnette Porter (Framingham, MA) had 10 kills, two solo blocks and four block assists in the loss. Freshman setter Morgan Gross (Dumfries, VA) passed out a season-high 54 assists and came up with 16 digs and three service aces. Sophomore libero Katie Thomas (Wappingers Falls, NY) had a team-best 23 digs.

The Crusaders got 21 kills and 14 digs from Christine Strawson while Elizabeth Auger finished with 17 kills.

In the Villanova match, Archer and Porter each had six kills Bell posted 12 digs while Thomas had 13.

The Wildcats got 17 kills from Adrian Semrau who hit .500 in the match (17-1-32).

The Pioneers will return home next weekend to host the Sacred Heart / Asics Invitational. SHU will welcome Wagner, Providence and Columbia to the Pitt Center on Friday and Saturday, September 22nd and 23rd.