The Pioneers hit a season high .467 while holding the Bulldogs to a -.024 percentage in a 3-0 victory Saturday afternoon at the Pitt Center.  Elise Sage (Greenwood Village, CO) swung at an impressive .900 clip, totaling nine kills on her ten total attempts.  Dianis Mercado (Vega Baja, Puerto Rico) recorded a match high 14 kills while setter Courtney Kidd-Kadlubek (Santa Barbara, CA) distributed 38 assists.  Johanna Ovsenek (London, Ontario) also recorded double digit kills with 11 and a .526 swinging percentage, making six matches in a row the sophomore has hit over .333.

Sacred Heart (18-4, 7-0 NEC) dominated from the beginning of the first set, opening up an 11-3 advantage on the strength of a Kidd-Kadlubek service ace.  Mercado had her best start of the season with seven kills on 11 attempts in the first game.  The Bulldogs were not able to secure back-to-back points in the opening stanza and eventually fell 25-11.  The Pioneers compiled 18 kills with just one miscue throughout the first set with the final point coming off of a Mercado swing.

Bryant (14-11, 2-5 NEC) kept the second set much closer and pulled ahead 12-11 on a kill from Kaitlyn Klein.  The Pioneers then exploded for nine consecutive points, six on kills, to take a commanding 20-12 lead.  Sacred Heart closed out the set on a 5-0 run and took the game 25-14 on after back-to-back kills from Ashlyn Trimble (Temecula, CA).  Trimble finished the match with eight kills and a .353 hitting percentage from the outside.  

SHU saves its best set for last with 16 kills and a .600 hitting percentage while holding the Bulldogs to a -.069 mark.  The Pioneers won the first five points of the game as well as the final eight en route to the 25-8 victory to earn the 3-0 match sweep.  Ovsenek had her strongest set in the third with five kills on seven attempts, good for a .714 percentage.  Christina Bauch (Trabuco Canyon, CA) had a fantastic match on the Pioneer backline with a career high 19 digs to anchor the SHU defense.

The Pioneers return to action tomorrow looking to complete a perfect trip through the first half of the Northeast Conference schedule.  SHU and Central Connecticut State tip-off at 1:00 pm in the William H. Pitt Center.