HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (September 12, 2014)—The Sacred Heart women's volleyball team came back after dropping the first set to capture a win over Siena 3-1 (16-25, 25-23, 25-16, 25-21) Friday night in the Hofstra Invitational. Rookie Makayla Dole (Cypress, Calif.) led the match with 14 kills. Teammate Tori Kemper (Banks, Ore.) wasn't far behind with 13. The win improves the Pioneers' record to 2-5 going into the second day of the tournament.

After Siena took the first set, Sacred Heart had to fight hard in the second to even the match. The Pioneers couldn't manage more than a two-point lead for most of the set. Then, with the score tied at 18, the Saints capitalized on SHU errors for a three-point run. But Katie Direnzo (Shelton, Conn.), who posted an errorless match, ended the streak with a kill and started a four-point Pioneer run, which featured a pair of aces from Dole. After exchanging points, SHU took the set with back-to-back kills from Jene Lee (San Dimas, Calif.) and Kemper.

The Pioneers dominated the third set. After taking a quick lead, with SHU in the lead 12-9, Dole's strong serving led Sacred Heart on a six-point tare. Soon after, it was the rookie again who clinched the 25-16 win for SHU with a kill.

Despite taking the first three points of the fourth set on Siena errors, the Pioneers had to work hard to maintain that lead. The Saints came back to tie the score at 14, but three straight kills from Lee tipped the scales back in SHU's favor and forced Siena to call a timeout. The break did nothing to break Sacred Heart's momentum as they held onto the lead all the 25-21 win.

The Pioneers continue play in the Hofstra Invitational tomorrow against Fordham at 11:00 a.m. and closing the tournament against Hofstra at 7:30 p.m.