Fairfield, Conn. – With her 11th straight match in double figures, first year outside Ryleigh Short led the Sacred Heart women's volleyball as the Pioneers dropped a four-set decision on the road at Marist on Friday evening.
Short led a pair of Pioneers in double figures with a match-high 17 kills for her 19th match of the season with double digits offensively. Joining her in leading the offense was first year outside Abbie Hagedorn and graduate middle Cristina Montanez. Hagedorn was the only other Sacred Heart player in double figures with 11 kills while Montanez closed out the match with a .600 attack percentage as she scattered nine kills over 15 attempts without an error.
Records:
Sacred Heart: 8-17, 5-8 MAAC
Marist: 8-17, 6-7 MAAC
Top Performers:
Ryleigh Short: 17 kills, 14 digs, 3 service aces
Abbie Hagedorn: 11 kills, 3 blocks
Cristina Montanez: 9 kills, .600 attack percentage, 5 blocks
Miliani Villarreal: 11 assists, 18 digs
Brielle Laferriere: 33 assists
How it Happened:
The Red Foxes opened up the night scoring the first two points of the match and maintained that early lead, building out to as much as five, 12-7 before the Pioneers battled to knot the score midway through at 15-15. The rally for the Pioneers consisted of 8-of-10 points with kills from Emily Sawyer, Hagedorn and two from Montanez helping mount the run. After a fifth and final tie score at 18-18, Marist took the lead on a Pioneers error and went on to take the opening set 25-22.
Marist once again opened up the second set scoring first but before all was said and done the teams found themselves in a deadlock five times with three lead changes. The first of those lead changes came early in the set on a five-point rally that flipped a 4-1 deficit into a 6-4 lead courtesy of kills from Hagedorn and Short and three-straight errors on the Red Foxes.
The Red Foxes eventually built a lead out to five and held a 24-21 advantage late, however the Pioneers mounted an impressive comeback, fighting off multiple set-points to end the set with a stretch of five-straight points for a 26-24 set two victory as Laferriere evened the match at 1-1 with a service ace.
In the third set, the Red Foxes against struck first in a set that never changed leads and saw just a single tie which came at 1-1. Despite the lack of lead changes, Marist never built a lead of more than five as the Pioneers kept it close throughout, including just a three-point difference late in the set at 23-20. The Red Foxes would regain a lead in the match, scoring the final two points of the set to take a 2-1 lead.
The fourth and final set proceeded much the same as the third set, again with no lead changes, however the Pioneers would battle to knot the score twice midway through at eight and nine before Marist took the lead for good. After keeping the set within reach throughout, the Red Foxes used a five-point rally late to pull ahead for good and take earn the match victory with a 25-17 fourth set win.
Up Next:
The Pioneers will close out a two-match weekend on Saturday afternoon with a second-straight match in the Empire State, visiting the Siena Saints. First serve in the MAAC contest is set for 2:00 p.m.
