Loudonville, N.Y. – The Sacred Heart women's volleyball team forced a fifth and deciding set in their final match of the weekend at Siena, falling by a final of 15-9 in the deciding stanza with the Saints warning the 3-2 victory on Saturday afternoon at the UHY Center.
Leading the Pioneers was the combination of junior Lauren Hubert and first-year Abbie Hagedorn who each finished with 14 kills, part of a trio to finish in double figures as they were joined by first-year Ryleigh Short who was just behind with 13 hammers. Among the trio of leading hitters, Hubert led the efforts with a .294 attack percentage
Defensively, sophomore Milliani Villarreal put up 27 digs, her fourth match of the season with 25+, while Short and Hubert followed with 15 digs apiece to complete double doubles. Short also added three total blocks which tied Emily Sawyer for the team lead.
Records:
Sacred Heart: 8-18, 5-9 MAAC
Siena: 12-16, 7-7 MAAC
Top Performers:
Abbie Hagedorn: 14 kills, 4 aces
Lauren Hubert: 14 kills, 15 digs, 2 blocks
Ryleigh Short: 13 kills, 15 digs, 3 blocks
Miliani Villarreal: 27 digs, 8 assists
Brielle Laferriere: 35 assists
How it Happened:
Sacred Heart came out of the starting gate strong with kills from Short and Hagedorn combined with a Siena error to take an early 3-0 lead. From that point the set would see-saw back-and-forth with eight ties before the Saints secured the early match lead scoring five of the final six points for a 25-21 victory.
Other than the first two points falling in favor of Siena, the second set nearly mimicked the opener, including by the final margin of 25-21 in favor of the home team. This time around it would be seven deadlocks before Siena answered a 19-19 score with six of the final eight points.
Sacred Heart would go on to force the fifth set by taking the second and third sets by scores of 25-15 and 25-12. After a few early ties in the second set, the Pioneers used a 10-2 rally to take a commanding 18-8 lead and closed out their first set win of the afternoon with four of the final five points, including a clinching kill from Sawyer.
Again in the fourth set, Sacred Heart followed up a couple of early ties with another strong run, this time 10 of 11 points to take a 15-5 lead before cruising to the 13 points victory. This time around it was six of the final seven points to secure the set and even the match at 2-2. Coming down the final stretch in the fourth set, Short had a pair of kills, including the clinching hammer.
In the deciding set, after trading the first two points, Siena rattled off five in a row to take a 6-1 lead and never relinquished that lead. Another five-point run for the Saints extended that lead before the Pioneers attempted to cut into it with a four-point run of their own. However, the Saints held strong and secured the match win with a kill from Natalia Clifford.
Up Next:
The Pioneers will host a pair of matches in the penultimate weekend of the regular season as Canisius and Niagara make the long trip to Fairfield. First on the docket will be a Friday night tussle with the Canisius Golden Griffins with first serve in the MAAC contest is set for 7:00 p.m.
