Fairfield, Conn. – It was a block party for middle blocker Cristina Montanez whose career-high 10 blocks led the Sacred Heart women's volleyball team as they capped off a two-match weekend with a four-set win over the visiting Marist Red Foxes on Saturday night.
In addition to her 10 blocks, Montanez added eight kills to her stat line. Leading the way in that column was first-year outside hitter Ryleigh Short who dropped in 17 kills, her fifth-straight match with double figures offensively and her fourth-straight with 15 or more kills. Also among the leaders was Emily Sawyer who finished with seven kills which came on a match-high .583 hitting percentage with those coming on 12 attempts without an error.
Records:
Sacred Heart: 5-14, 2-5 MAAC
Marist: 6-13, 4-3 MAAC
Top Performers:
Ryleigh Short: 17 kills, 9 digs, 3 blocks
Cristina Montanez: 8 kills, 10 blocks
Miliani Villarreal: 7 assists, 28 digs
Ava Roodbol: 25 assists
How it Happened:
It was a tight set early in the first before the Red Foxes used a stretch of eight-of-nine points to erase a deficit and take a 15-11 lead, one they would maintain for the remainder of the set. Sacred Heart was able to pull within a single point late at 22-21 on a kill from Montanez, however the Red Foxes closed out the set with a 25-22 victory to take the early lead.
That lead wouldn't last long though as the Pioneers rallied to win the next three sets and take the match victory. The second set was once again a close battle early on until the Pios began to pull away late. After a Marist kill put the Sacred Heart lead at one, 16-15, the Pioneers rallied to win the next three points and force a Marist timeout. From that point, the Pioneers opened up a five-point lead en route to a 25-19 victory to knot the match at one.
In the third set, the Red Foxes held the early advantage with leads of 9-4 and 15-9 before Sacred Heart began to chip away at its deficit, eventually flipping the score in its favor. After a kill from Sawyer knotted the score at 19, the Pioneers took the lead for good on a kill from Montanez and extended it with another from Abbie Hagedorn, maintaining that lead through to a 25-23 victory to take their first lead in the match at 2-1.
After falling behind early in the third set, the Pioneers regroup and rattled off five-straight points to take a 6-2 lead and never looked back. Marist was able to cut the lead down to a single point before another Pioneers five-point rally led to a 22-17 lead and a timeout for Marist. From that point the Red Foxes would only get as close as a pair before a kill from Sawyer capped off the match victory.
Up Next:
The Pioneers will continue a four-match homestand when they open up a two-match weekend on Friday night, October 17, hosting the Manhattan Jaspers at the William H. Pitt Center. First serve in the MAAC contest is set for 7:00 p.m.
