LORETTO, Pa. – For the second night in a row, the Sacred Heart University women's volleyball team pulled out a five-set finish. The Pioneers held off four match points to defeat Saint Francis 3-2 (25-17 14-25 23-25 25-14 19-17) on Saturday. 

Records:
Sacred Heart: 11-8, 4-1 NEC 
Saint Francis: 4-13, 3-2 NEC

Top Performers:
Sarah Ciszek: 40 assists, 8 digs, 5 kills
Brooke Jeffrey: 16 kills, 6 digs
Kate Anderson: 11 kills

Up Next:
Sacred Heart returns to the Pitt Center Friday to play Merrimack at 4 p.m.

Of Note:
Sacred Heart staved off a pair of match points, including an ace by Jasmine Rogers. SHU was down 17-16 until Kate Anderson came through with a pair of kills. Reghan Palanchi and Cristina Monantez combined on a block to seal the victory. 

A SHU error midway through the first set allowed the Red Flash to pull within 17-15, but the Pioneers would only surrender two more points the rest of the set. Camryn Luginbuhl had a pair kills in the 8-2 run.

Sacred Heart trailed 21-19 in the third set, but rallied to pull ahead 23-22. Unfortunately, a pair of SHU errors after a SFU kill gave the Red Flash the third set.

The Pioneers were a different team in the fourth set, jumping out to an 8-2 lead with Brooke Jeffrey contributing three kills.

A .462 hitting percentage in the fourth set lifted the Pioneers to a .237-to-.217 advantage. Emma Smallcomb's match-high 19 digs helped SHU to a 59-50 margin. 

Producing a team-high 16 kills was Jeffrey. The last two winners gave Anderson a season-high 11 kills. Setter Sarah Ciszek just missed a double-double with 40 assists and eight digs.