FAIRFIELD, CONN. (September 5, 2014)—Sarah Krufka (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.) racked up an impressive 35 kills hitting .354 over two matches Saturday as the Sacred Heart women's volleyball team claimed their first win of the season 3-2 (25-16, 19-25, 25-20, 20-25, 15-12) over Iona in the home opener, before falling to the University of Rhode Island 3-0 (18-25, 13-25, 19-25) later in the day.

Krufka and rookie Lila Palmer (Cypress, Texas) recorded double-doubles against the Gaels. While hitting .423, the sophomore tallied 27 kills and 12 digs, while Palmer posted a season-high 10 kills and 13 digs.

Jene Lee (San Dimas, Calif.) hit .538 posting a near-errorless match recording eight of her 12 attacks for kills.

After splitting the first two sets, Iona and SHU battled through the fifth set. After falling behind 7-3, the Pioneers worked their way back chipping away at the Gaels' lead until back-to-back kills from Krufka gave SHU a 13-12, and sparked a run to the finish line.

Despite SHU carrying momentum from its victory earlier in the day the University of Rhode Island dominated the day's final match as errors plagued the Pioneers. Sacred Heart struggled early, but bounced back to have a solid third set. Tori Kemper (Banks, Ore.) led the squad with nine kills.

Sacred Heart is back in action tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. against Hartford in the 2014 SHU Hampton Inn Shelton Invitational Finale.