FIRST SERVE

• Sacred Heart starts its quest for its fourth Northeast Conference championship in five years when it takes on LIU Friday in the NEC Tournament. SHU is hosting the NEC summit for the first time since 2016.
• The winner of that contest faces the winner of the Fairleigh Dickinson vs. Saint Francis contest Saturday at 7 p.m.
• The Pioneers won the regular season title with 12-2 league mark while posting the sixth 20-win season in school history. 
• Setter Sarah Ciszek was named NEC Player and Setter of the Year. She's the only five-time Setter of the Year in NEC history.
• The Pioneers had four members of the All-NEC team in Ciszek (First Team), middle blocker Reghan Planchi (First Team), outside hitter Camryn Luginbuhl (Second Team) and libero Emma Smallcomb (Second Team).

SACRED HEART SET TO FACE LIU IN NEC SEMIFINALS
Winners of the regular season Northeast Conference title, the Sacred Heart University women's volleyball team has its sights set on the NEC Tournament title and the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Pioneers start that quest Friday when they take on LIU in the semifinals. Sacred Heart won both regular season matches against the Sharks, winning 3-1 at home and 3-2 on the road. SHU is trying to be the first tournament host to win the title since LIU in 2017.

CISZEK CONTINUES TO MAKE HISTORY
When her career is over, setter Sarah Ciszek will go down as the most decorated women's volleyball player in NEC history. Thursday she made history with her fifth Setter of the Year award while also earning NEC Player of the Year for the second time. In addition, she was named First Team All-NEC for the fifth time. The San Juan Capistrano, Calif. native is fourth in the NCAA with five triple doubles.

PALANCHI & SMALLCOMB HAVE RECORD-SETTING CAMPAIGNS
A pair of all-time SHU records went down this season. Middle blocker Reghan Palanchi topped the blocks record in the first meeting with LIU. More recently, libero Emma Smallcomb became the program's leader in digs at Stonehill. Palanchi's mark stands at 365 rejections while Smallcomb comes into the tournament with 2,033 digs.

LUGINBUHL GIVES SHU A LIFT
While she didn't sign with SHU out of college, coach Machan got Camryn Luginbuhl to SHU eventually. The Tolland, Conn. native joined the Pioneers in the spring after transferring from Hartford. The 6-foot outside hitter leads the Pioneers with 282 kills, including a career-high 23 winners against Stony Brook.

JEFFREY COMING ON STRONG DURING ROOKIE CAMPAIGN
While some first year players get worn out down the stretch, Sacred Heart rookie Brooke Jeffrey has only been getting better. Due to injuries, she transitioned from outside hitter to the right side this year, but she hasn't missed a beat. A three-time NEC Rookie of the Week, the last half of the year she's averaging 2.93 kills per set and has nine double-digit kill performances, including 17 in the last meeting with LIU.

SHU OFFENSE IS HUMMING
Coming into the tournament, SHU is the NEC leader in nearly every offensive category, including the top team in points (16.45/set), kills (13.01/set), assists (11.95) and hitting percentage (.229).  The Pioneers are ranked 35th in the country with 1,431 kills. Setter Sarah Ciszek has a lot of options on offense as six different Pioneers are average 1.85 kills per set or better. Ciszek herself is an attacking option as well as she's averaging 2.00 kills and leads the NEC with a .358 hitting percentage.