SYRACUSE, NY (August 27, 2011) - The Sacred Heart women's volleyball team closed out play in the Syracuse Big Orange Tournament posting a pair of 3-0 wins Saturday afternoon over Siena and Youngstown State.  The Pioneers head home to Fairfield after a 2-1 weekend and will get ready to host the annual SHU Invitational on Friday and Saturday.

SHU (2-1) rebounded from yesterday's loss at the hands of the host Orange with a 25-23, 25-23, 25-14 win over Siena to open day two.  The Pioneers beat the Penguins 25-20, 25-20 and 25-21 in the night cap.

In the win over the Saints, SHU was led by grad student Kimmee Roleder (Pasadena, CA) who was the only Pioneer to post double digit kills with 11.  She also added six digs and a pair of blocks to her totals.  Sacred Heart served up six aces in the win led by a pair each from sophomore Dianis Mercado (Vega Baja, PR) and freshman Alisa Mesa (Long Beach, CA).

Mesa finished with a double double dishing out 20 assists to go with 11 digs.  Mercado posted 15 digs while senior Jessica Colberg (Long Beach, CA) led all Pioneers with 18 digs.

Siena matched their 25 kills with 25 attack errors and had six service errors as well.

In the win over Youngstown State, Mercardo led the attack with 13 kills and eight digs.  Roleder added seven kills and posted 13 digs in the win.  Colberg again led the team defensively with a match-high 15 digs.

Sophomore Johanna Ovsenek (London, Ontario) turned in eight kills in 11 attempts against no errors and added a pair of blocks in the middle.

The Pioneers will play host to Brown, Hartford and Rutgers in the SHU Invitational this coming weekend.  SHU will play Brown on Friday night at 7 pm and take on Hartford at 9:30 am and Rutgers at 4:30 pm on Saturday.

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