Box Score FAIRFIELD, Conn. – For the second day in a row, and the fourth time in its last seven matches, the Sacred Heart volleyball team rallied for a victory after dropping the first set, storming back to beat Bryant in five sets of Northeast Conference action on Sunday afternoon at the William H. Pitt Center. The Pioneers have won four straight, matching their longest streak since 2011. Also winners of six of its last seven, SHU remains unbeaten in the NEC at 3-0 while upping its record to 9-6.
Sacred Heart lost the first two sets, 25-23, 25-17, before dominating the third and fourth, 25-11 and 25-18. In a back and forth fifth set, neither team had a lead of more than two until a Bryant (11-10, 3-1 NEC) error put the Pioneers ahead 13-10. That capped a 7-3 run which began with the Bulldogs in front, 7-6.
Karly Shockey began it all with a kill. Following a Tori Kemper service ace to give SHU a one point lead, 8-7, the teams traded points until it was tied at nine. The Pioneers would take over from there with two straight points and four of the next five. Bruna Bon broke the tie for good, also adding a kill to put Sacred Heart ahead 12-10. Bryant would get as close as two twice, at 13-11 and 14-12, but SHU answered both times with kills from Kemper and Sarah Krufka.
Krufka led Sacred Heart in kills for the ninth consecutive match, finishing with 14 on on .458 hitting, while also trying for a team-high, with Maddie Losure, four block assists. Bon added 13 kills with Shockey trying a season-high with 11 for a second day in a row. Bon also had 10 digs for her team-best seventh double double. Kiki Robinson finished with a double double as well, her fifth of the year, as she had a match-high 26 assists in addition to a team-high 11 digs.
Bryant's Krisitin Kingi led all players 15 kills, while Debora Magalhaes posted a match-best 21 digs.
SHU will visit Pennsylvania next weekend to continue NEC play against both Robert Morris and Saint Francis U. First up is a 3 pm start against RMU on Saturday before traveling to Saint Francis U for a 1 pm match on Sunday.
Noteworthy
- Sacred Heart also had four straight wins in September of 2014 and September-October of 2013. The four consecutive victories are the longest streak since the Pioneers won nine in a row in October-November of 2011.
- With 13 service aces, SHU reached double digits for the sixth time in seven matches. With seven such matches of at least ten services aces in 2015, the Pioneers have already surpassed the six times they did it in 2014.
- Allison Riggs came off the bench for a season-best two block assists to go along with four kills.
How it Happened
- Sacred Heart did not trail in the first set, which includes three leads of five, until Bryant scored six unanswered points to take a 21-18 lead. The Pioneers would respond with four of the next five points tie it up at 22, and again at 23, before the Bulldogs closed the set with two consecutive kills
- Down 3-2, Bryant went on a 7-2 run to go ahead 9-5. SHU pulled with two once, 9-7, but the Bulldogs scored the next two points and the lead would go no lower than three the remainder of the set.
- The Pioneers came out of the ten-minute intermission between sets two and three with the first five points. The teams then went back and forth on the next 11 points to make the score 10-6 before SHU rallied off four in a row and eight of the next nine to go ahead 18-7.
- Despite being down four points four times early in the fourth, Bryant would get as close as one at 14-13. Sacred Heart came back with three unanswered though, sparking a 6-1 run for a 20-14 lead that ultimately led to the decisive fifth set.
