LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. (November 23, 2024) – The Sacred Heart University women's volleyball team turned some heads in its first year in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, finishing four games over .500 (11-7) in the league on the way to a fifth-place finish, with marquee wins over Quinnipiac, Rider and Canisius. Unfortunately for the Pioneers, that energy ran out on Thursday afternoon, in the first round of the MAAC Championship, hosted by Siena. Fifth-seeded SHU dug itself holes in all three sets and suffered a season-ending, 3-0 loss (25-20, 25-22, 25-23) at the hands of eighth-seeded Iona.
 
Iona (11-20) came out of the gates firing on all cylinders and opened up a 21-11 margin in the first set. SHU (15-16) was able to tighten things up, but it proved far too large a hole to climb out of, as the Gaels took the opener, 25-20.
 
Falling behind early would be the theme on the afternoon. SHU dropped 11 of the first 15 points in the second set and trailed 11-4. This time though, the Pioneers were able to right the ship, at least momentarily, and took 12 of the next 16 points to take a 16-15 lead on a kill by Allison Murray (Pittsburgh, Pa.). SHU would lead by one point on four separate occasions, but could never generate any separation. Iona reclaimed the second-set lead for good at 20-19, on the way to a 25-22 victory.
 
Again, SHU fell behind to start the third, and trailed 15-8 at the media timeout. With their season on the line, the Pios put up a significant fight and refused to be an easy out, closing the gap down to 19-14 to force an Iona timeout, then to 21-19, and then all the way down to 24-23, staving off three match points in the process. After another Iona timeout, the fourth match point was the one which finished things off, as Grace Ehler put away her team-leading 12^th and final kill of the contest.
 
Camry Luginbuhl (Tolland, Conn.) and Murray both finished in double digits offensively for SHU, with 17 and 12 kills, respectively. Luginbuhl hit .308 and Murray .414, to buoy a Pioneer attack which finished the day at just .225, even after hitting .344 in the final set. The duo worked off the set of Gaby Zovko (Bedford, Mass.), who dished out 29 assists. Defensively, Miliani Villareal (Murrieta, Calif.) contributed 17 digs, while Cristina Montanez (East Stroudsburg, Pa.) tallied three block assists.
 
Ehler's 12 kills led the way for Iona, and she was joined in double digits by 11 from Taylor Timko. Ehler's .423 attack percentage paced a Gaels squad which hit .264 for the match. Emma Vu dished out 21 assists and Jordan Ader added 12 more. Three Gaels notched double-digit digs, led by 15 from Mija Jegers, and Iona piled up eight blocks on the afternoon, including four (one solo) from Jen Soto.
 
Iona advances to take on fourth-seeded Canisius in the quarterfinal round on Friday at 4 p.m.