Box Score FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Sacred Heart volleyball team scored seven of the final eight points of the match to overcome Hartford's attempt at a comeback bid in the 2015 home opener in the SHU Hampton Inn Shelton Invitational on Saturday evening in the William H. Pitt Center. The win evened the Pioneers' record at 2-2, while the loss was the sixth straight for the Hawks to open the year.
Trailing 10-8 in the decisive fifth set, a Sarah Krufka kill began a run of four straight SHU points. Tori Kemper then tied the match with a service ace, before two straight Hartford errors put the Pioneers up two and forced the Hawks to call a timeout. The timeout proved effective at first, as a Sacred Heart service ace cut the deficit back to one, but the Pioneers then answered with final three points to seal the home opening triumph. Again it was Krufka with a kill, before Ana Gonzalez closed the match with back-to-back service aces.
It was Krufka who led the way, as the junior was just two shy of a career high with 22 kills. Kemper was right behind her with 18 kills, adding 11 digs for her double double of the year. Bruna Bon and Kiki Robinson also recorded double doubles on the night, while Katie Direnzo led the team with a .421 hitting percentage (ten kills) and four block assists.
The Pioneers outhit the Hawks .228-120 while finishing with 20 more kills, 64-44. SHU also held a 60-38 edge in assists, while Hartford posted 13 blocks to Sacred Heart's 6.
SHU will look to make it 2-0 in the 2015 SHU Hampton Inn Shelton Invitational tomorrow, as it wraps up the tournament with a 1 pm matchup with Brown.
Set One
The Pioneers came out hot in what turned out to be the lopsided set of the match at 25-14. SHU hit .591 in the opener, hitting 14 kills against just one error in 22 attacks. A Direnzo kill to make the score 14-9 would break the set open, as it was the first of four straight Sacred Heart points.
Set Two
SHU looked to be cruising to another easy set, going ahead 18-12 after a Hartford error. But a Hawks timeout would change the course of the set, as they responded by taking the next four points to make it 18-16. Sacred Heart did regain control with four of the next five points though, only to have Harford make yet another run to tie it at 24. The two teams traded points until a Kathryn Gawrych kill evened the match at a set apiece.
Set Three
With the score tied at six, Sacred Heart took six of the next seven points to take control. Hartford would get back within three twice, at 14-11 and 15-12, but the Pioneers responded with seven of the next nine points to put the set out of reach. Hartford plagued itself with errors, hitting -.032 for the set on nine errors against just eight kills.
Set Four
The Pioneers had by far its worst hitting set of the evening with just one more kill than error, 11-10, but still managed hang around until it was 16-16. Back-to-back Hawk kills and one of those ten errors gave Hartford a three-point lead. SHU cut it to two at 21-19 before another timely Harford timeout composed the Hawks, who went on to score four of the final five points to force the fifth.
