Chestnut Hill, Mass. - The Sacred Heart volleyball team lost two tightly contested matches at the Boston College Invitational on Saturday, first falling victim to a five set comeback by South Alabama (23-25, 21-25, 25-21, 25-15, 15-13) before falling 3-1 (25-20, 25-21, 22-25, 25-22) in four back and forth sets to Boston College.

Three Pioneers set career highs on the day, including Kiki Robinson, who racked up a career high 53 assists in the opener, as well as a career best 14 digs in the nightcap to go along with 37 assists for a double double. Senior Katie Direnzo hit .750 against BC en route to the highest kill total of her career at 12. Tori Kemper also surpassed her career high in kills, finishing with 20 in the five setter against S. Alabama.

Kemper joined Sarah Krufka in leading the Pioneers with 31 kills over the two matches, as the two were also named to the All-Tournament team. Krufka and Kemper totaled 44 and 40 kills in the three matches, respectively.

Robinson accumulated 90 assists between the two matches, while Ana Gonzalez  posted two double-digit dig games to finish with a combined 22. Bruna Bon recorded her second consecutive double double against South Alabama, finishing with 13 kills and 13 digs.

Sacred Heart will continue tournament play next weekend, hosting the SHU Shelton Inn Hampton Invitational on Friday, September 4 and Saturday, September 5. Action in the William H. Pitt Center begins with Brown and Hartford at 1 pm. The Pioneers play their first match at 5 pm against Hartford.

South Alabama

Set One
After the Pioneers went ahead 10-7 early, both teams went on a 9-2 scoring run. USA did so first, with five points coming on Stewart's serve, to take a 16-12 advantage, the largest of the set. SHU would answer with four straight and nine of the next eleven to ultimately match its largest lead of the first. South Alabama did not make it easy though, coming back to even the score at 23. Sacred Heart would buckle down from there, as Krufka and Kemper registered back-to-back kill to secure the first set.

Set Two

The second set appeared as it was going to be much more comfortable for the Pioneers, as they jumped out to a 9-3 edge with the final four points coming on Krufka's serve. S. Alabama would battle though, twice getting as close as two at 14-12 and 15-13. Sacred Heart put an end to the rally, and any hope USA had of winning the second, by scoring six a row, again on the back of Krufka's serving. Kemper's third kill in the run established a 21-13 lead and the Jaguars would not get closer than three the remainder of the set. 

Set Three

Following the Pioneers taking the first point, South Alabama scored the next four and would not trail throughout the rest of the set. SHU would get within one twice, the second time coming at 7-6, but the Jaguars tallied nine of the next 13 points to bring the score to 16-10.  The closest Sacred Heart would get was three at 23-20 after a third straight point, and 24-21 following a Krufka kill, before USA forced a fourth.

Set Four

The set opened with each team going on a mini-run of there before Sacred Heart went ahead 8-5 on five successive points, once again on Krufka's serve. The Jaguars answered with five straight, and 12 of the next 14, and would never look back, easily cruising to a 25-15 win.

Set Five

Early on USA went up by two five separate times, only to have the Pioneers come back and eventually tie it at eight thanks to back-to-back kills from Kemper and Krufka. SHU gained its first lead at 10-9 thanks to an error and even went up 12-10 following two more Jaguar errors, but it all unraveled from there, as South Alabama's final scored five of the final six points, four of which came by way of a Sacred Heart error.

Boston College

Set One

Boston College broke open a 9-8 opening set by scoring four of the next five points. From there, they led by at least five until Sacred rallied to get within three, 22-19, after two straight kills by Kemper and Krufka. Krufka again cut the deficit to three at 23-20 but a SHU error and BC kill closed out the set.

Set Two

Four BC errors helped Sacred Heart establish an early 4-1 edge, and that lead stretched to 10-6 after consecutive aces by Direnzo. The Eagles rattled off six straight points from there though to go ahead 12-10 behind the serving of Mallori Moffat. After the Pioneers tied it at 12, the teams traded points until it was 18-18. That is where Boston College took control of the set with three points in a row to ultimately pull away.

Set Three

Neither team gathered more than a one point lead until BC went ahead 11-8. Three errors, and a kill by Bon, then plagued the Eagles as Sacred Heart scored four straight to grab its third lead of the set, 12-11. Later on at 15-15, once again SHU took advantage of Boston College errors, as it put together four unanswered to go up 18-15. BC would respond with seven of the next eleven points to even the score in an attempt to finish off the sweep, but the Pioneers extended the match thanks to kills from Krufka and Robinson.

Set Four

In a back and forth fourth set, Boston College looked to grab the first advantage when it went ahead 15-12, but consecutive kills by Bon along with two errors and a Kemper kill knotted things up at 17. Looking to avoid a fifth set, Kam Mclain took over with three kills over the next seven points to help the Eagles regain control at 22-19. A Krufka ace got the Pioneers as close as 23-22, but Boston College ended the match with the next two points.