FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Sacred Heart women's volleyball team opened Northeast Conference play with a sweep, its second in a row, of Fairleigh Dickinson on Sunday afternoon at the William H. Pitt Center. The Pioneers used 20 block assists, their most since at least the 2010 season, to win their fourth match in their last five and move above .500 for the first time this season at 7-6.

Maddie Losure led Sacred Heat's blocking attack, finishing with a career-high six block assists, and also added seven kills on nine attacks for a career-best .778 hitting percentage, while Katie Direnzo and Karly Shockey contributed four block assists each.

For the seventh consecutive match, Sarah Krufka led the Pioneers in kills, tallying 11 while also contributing three blocking assists. Bruna Bon was one kill shy of a double double with ten digs, while Tori Kemper registered a match-high eleven digs. Lea Lieb and Kiki Robinson combined for 35 assists, with 17 and 16, respectively. 

For the second day in a row, the Pioneers raised their season-high in hitting percentage as a team, hitting .370 for the match while forcing FDU (6-9) to hit -.013, with more errors than kills, 17-16. 

Much like its sweep on Saturday, SHU took control of the opening set with an early run, jumping out to an 18-4 lead. After a close, 25-20, second set, the Pioneers dominated the third, scoring the first six, and eight of the first nine, points.

Sacred Heart will continue NEC play at the William H. Pitt Center next weekend with two more matches. The Pioneers welcome in-state rival Central Connecticut State for a 2 pm start on Saturday before Bryant visits Fairfield for a 1 pm match on Sunday.

Noteworthy

• The .370 hitting percentage is SHU's second highest since the beginning of the 2012 season, behind only .432 performance against St Francis Brooklyn on October 4^th of last year.

How It Happened

• The big run in the opening set came with Sacred Heart ahead 11-4. The Pioneers scored six straight points behind Direnzo's serving to put the set away with an 18-4 advantage. There were three SHU kills and three Knight errors in the stretch.
• Tied 14-14, back-to-back kills by Shockey sparked four unanswered points, the last coming on a Kemper service ace. FDU would not get closer than three the remainder of the set.
• Losure had two kills in the opening 6-0 run, which also included two Fairleigh Dickinson errors and a Krufka kill. Back-to-back kills by Krufka and Bon made the lead 8-1 and SHU never looked back.