Fairfield, Conn. – Sacred Heart dropped its second straight straight five set match, losing to Robert Morris in tightly contested back and forth Northeast Conference action on Saturday night at the William H. Pitt Center. Both teams are now tied for third at 8-3 in league play, one and a half games behind co-leaders LIU Brooklyn and Bryant.

The fifth set began like the other sets with tense back and forth play throughout.  Down 5-6, Robert Morris went on a 7-2 run, started by a kill and two straight aces from Arden Fisher, to take a 12-8 lead.  SHU fought back to within two twice, the latter time after consecutive kills from Sarah Krufka made the score 14-12, but the Pioneers eventually fell short by a score of 15-12 after yet another kill from Fisher.

Lead by Krufka with 24 kills, Sacred Heart had four players in double figures. Tori Kemper, Bruna Bon and Karly Shockey added 15, 12 and 10 respectively, with Bon and Kemper recording double doubles with 20 and 12 digs.  Kiki Robinson also had a double double with a team-high 36 assists and 10 digs. 

Allison Riggs led SHU with five block assists, as the Pioneers finished with 22 on the night, a new season-high and its most in a match since at least the 2010 season. Krufka, Kemper and Katie Direnzo added four each.

RMU added 16 block assists of their own, as the two teams were very even statistically. The Colonials outhit SHU .281-.261, as both teams finished with 73 kills. The two teams were also neck in neck in assists, aces, and digs, with neither team having a differential of more than seven in any category.

Robert Morris was lead by Fisher and Taylor Lord who each registered double doubles.  Fisher had 16 kills and and a match-high 29 digs, while Lord also finished with 16 kills and 17 digs. Brianna Frakes tallied a match-high 51 assists. 

Tomorrow the Pioneers take on the Terriers of St. Francis in its final home match of the season. Following the conclusion of the match, SHU will honor seniors its three seniors: Bon, Shockey and Katie Direnzo. 

Noteworthy

-Sacred is 5-6 in 5 set matches in 2015.

-The Pioneers do not have a losing streak longer than two matches this season.

First Set

Sacred Heart took an early 6-2 lead in the first set before Robert Morris battled back behind a 7-3 run to eventually take an 18-16 lead.  SHU fought back to earn a set point after back to back kills from Kemper and Shockey put the Pioneers ahead 24-23, but the Colonials were able to close out the set with three straight points, which began with consecutive Sacred Heart errors.

Second Set

Down 10-12 the Colonials stormed ahead with eight unanswered points, however, the Pioneers mustered a spirited comeback on an 8-2 run to tie the score at 20.  Kemper, Bon and Riggs contributed kills in the rally.  Bon then struck again with 3 consecutive kills to break the tie and power SHU to the set win by a score of 25-23. 

Third Set

The third set continued the back and forth trend with four early ties.  Sacred Heart stormed out to a 19-13 lead after an 8-2 run.  Krufka and Kemper contributed kills accompanied by six Robert Morris errors.  The Colonials came back with seven of the next eight points to tie the score at 20. Neither team would gain more than a one-point lead until Robert Morris took the set with a kill from Lord and and a Pioneer error.

Fourth Set

The Colonials started out with a 3-point lead which would be the largest lead of the set that contained 16 ties.  Sacred Heart, aided by 6 kills from Krufka, battled to take the win with a score of 26-24.