North Andover, Mass. – A season-high hitting performance from junior Lauren Hubert led the Sacred Heart women's volleyball team to its fourth-straight win as the Pioneers opened up the weekend with a road sweep over Merrimack at Hammel Court.

Hubert led all hitters in the game with 15 kills while amassing a .519 attack percentage with a single error in 27 total attempts. The 15 kills marks her ninth match of the season in double figures and her sixth in the last nine.

Joining her as the only other player in the match in double figures was freshman outside Ryleigh Short who finished with 10 kills. Defensively, the Pioneers held Merrimack to a .108 attack percentage with their leading hitter collecting just seven total kills.

Record:
Sacred Heart: 8-14, 5-5 MAAC
Merrimack: 5-14, 3-7 MAAC

Top Performers:
Lauren Hubert: 15 kills, .519 attack percentage, 9 digs
Ryleigh Short: 10 kills, 12 digs, 3 service aces
Miliani Villarreal: 22 digs, 2 service aces
Brielle Laferriere: 29 assists, 8 digs

How it Happened:
The Pioneers opened up the match with a service ace from Laferriere and never looked back despite a pair of early ties in the set. Midway through the set, the Pioneers opened up an 11-6 lead on a five-point rally that began with a kill from Abbie Hagedorn and included a pair of kills from Short. The largest lead for the Pioneers came following another five-point rally that included a pair of kills from Hubert and one each from Hagedorn and Emily Sawyer.

After surrendering the first point in the second set, the Pioneers used a stretch where they scored 9-of-11 points which opened up a 10-4 lead. Another stretch of 10 points, this time coming among 13 total, extended the Pioneers lead into double figures at 22-9 before an error charged to the Warriors put the second set in the books at 25-12.

The final set started much the same as the second set, however this time around it was a rally of seven-straight points that put the Pioneers ahead for good as that run led to a 12-6 lead. Among that rally were a pair of kills from Short and middle Cristina Montanez as well as a service ace from Hagedorn who would also provide the final two Pioneer kills of the match, the latter of which closed out the action with a 25-16 margin in the third set.

Up Next:
Sacred Heart continues its weekend road play returning to its home state to take on the Quinnipiac Bobcats on Saturday evening at Burt Kahn Court. First serve in the MAAC contest is set for 5:00 p.m.