FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Sacred Heart University women's volleyball team was on both sides of a sweep Saturday during the second day of the SHU Invitational. The Pioneers ended the tournament by sweeping crosstown rival Fairfield 3-0 (25-14, 25-16, 25-16) after falling 3-0 (25-12, 25-17, 25-18) to UC Irvine.

Records:
Sacred Heart: 5-4

Top Performers:
Sarah Ciszek (SHU): 11 kills, 24 assists (vs. Fairfield)
Reghan Palanchi (SHU): 6 kills, 4 blocks (vs. Fairfield)
Dominique Felix (SHU): 8 kills, 7 digs (vs. Fairfield)

Up Next:
The Pioneers wrap up the preseason next weekend at the Hartford Invitational where they will face Dartmouth (Friday) and Brown (Saturday). 

Of Note:
Sacred Heart was a different team in the nightcap, hitting a season-high .402 while limiting the Stags to .051. The Pioneers added seven aces and seven blocks.
 
Thanks to several Fairfield miscues, Sacred Heart got out to a 7-1 lead in the opening frame on a Jasmine Rogers' ace. The lead grew to as many as 23-12 on back-to-back Sarah Ciszek kills.
 
The Stags pulled within 17-15, in set two, only to see the Pioneers finish the frame on an 8-1 run that included three Dominique Felix kills. While Fairfield did a better job of siding out in the third set, they couldn't stop multi-point Pioneer runs as they completed the sweep.
 
Leading all players with 11 kills was the setter Ciszek to go along with 24 assists. Felix added eight winners and libero Emma Smallcomb notched a match-high 10 digs.
 
Sacred Heart could not find its rhythm against UC Irvine. A block by Reghan Palanchi and Felix gave the hosts an early lead in set one, but the Anteaters rattled off a 7-0 run on their way to hitting .417 in the opening stanza.
 
UCI hit .370 for the match, compared to .111 by the Pioneers. The visitors also had 11 blocks and eight aces.
 
SHU got out to a better start in the second set, but UCI chipped away at the lead and went on a 5-0 run down the stretch to pull away. The Anteaters started the final set on a 7-0 run to establish a lead they would not relinquish.        
 
No Pioneer reached double-digit kills. Ciszek posted six to go along with a team-best eight digs.