Hartford, CT - Ashlyn Trimble (Temecula, CA) and Elise Sage (Greenwood Village, CO) each hit an impressive .550 as the SHU women's volleyball team swept the Hawks 3-0 Thursday night.  Freshman Dianis Mercado (Vega Baja, Puerto Rico) led the Pioneers offensively and defensively with a double-double, posting 14 kills and 13 digs.  SHU swung at a .404 clip in the match as the victory makes five straight heading into Northeast Conference play Saturday afternoon.

Sacred Heart (10-4) jumped out to an early 10-5 lead in the first set as Mercado slammed home back-to-back kills.  Trimble was on fire throughout the opening frame as the junior supplied six kills on six attempts for a perfect 1.000 hitting mark.  Courtney Kidd-Kadlubek (Santa Barbara, CA) totaled 40 kills for the night and also recorded a pair of blocks in the first game.  Trimble supplied the last point of the set as the Pioneers routed the Hawks 25-13 to start the match.

Hartford (5-12) kept the second set close and drew within one after a Pioneer service error cut the SHU advantage to 13-12.  The Pioneers opened a small gap after winning three consecutive points capitalizing on a Hartford error coupled with a service ace from Kidd-Kadlubek.  But the Hawks rallied back and took a 21-20 lead on a kill from Lindsay Ford.  Sacred Heart responded by pounding five consecutive kills, three from Sage and two from Mercado, to end the set 25-21 and take a 2-0 lead overall.

The Pioneers exploded out to a 13-6 advantage in the third set as Christina Bauch (Trabuco Canyon, CA) dropped in one of her eight total kills.  Freshman Kelsey Freeman (Denver, CO) came off the bench and contributed two kills as well as a block.  Trimble finished off the SHU victory at 25-13 in the third as the Pioneers swept away the Hawks on the road.  Overall Sacred Heart held Hartford to .188 hitting as the Pioneers have now won 10 of the last 11 matches.

The women's volleyball team returns home this Saturday, September 25 for the kick-off of the Northeast Conference schedule against Fairleigh Dickinson at 2:00 pm.