Fairfield, Conn. – Behind a match-high 15 kills each from first-year outside hitter Abbie Hagedorn and Ryleigh Short, the Sacred Heart women's volleyball team opened up its weekend with a four-set victory over the visiting Canisius Golden Griffens on Saturday night at the William H. Pitt Center.
The 15 kills apiece from Hagedorn and Short not only led all players in the match but were the only Pioneers to surpass double figures on the night. Of the pair, Hagedorn put up the better performance with just six errors in 35 attempts for a .257 attack percentage. Rounding out the leading hitters was junior outside Lauren Hubert who finished with eight kills.
Defensively, sophomore Milliani Villarreal put up 17 digs and was one of four players to reach double figures in that column, including both Hagedorn (15) and Short (10) as they completed the double double. As a team, the Pioneers also combined for eight blocks, led by junior middle Emily Sawyer who finished with eight, while Hubert and graduate middle Cristina Montanez each had three.
Records:
Sacred Heart: 9-18, 6-9 MAAC
Canisius: 10-15, 8-7 MAAC
Top Performers:
Abbie Hagedorn: 15 kills, 15 digs
Ryleigh Short: 15 kills, 10 digs, 3 service aces
Lauren Hubert: 8 kills, 11 digs, 3 blocks
Miliani Villarreal: 17 digs, 7 assists
Brielle Laferriere: 33 assists
How it Happened:
Canisius came out of the blocks to score the first two points of the match and despite a pair of deadlocks mid-way through, never trailed in the opening set. Following a deadlock at 16, the Golden Griffens retook a slim lead before building it out their largest of the set at 22-18 before closing out the first set win, 25-18, with a kill from Julia Lenik.
The Golden Griffens again opened up the scoring in the second set, however that lead didn't last long as the Pioneers took their first lead on back-to-back hitting errors and built out a 12-5 lead that forced Canisius to call for time. In that early stretch for the Pioneers, Short opened up a run of five-out-of-six points with back-to-back kills and added a third at the end of the run with a service ace from Cristina Montanez in the middle.
Sacred Heart built its advantage to as much as eight points in the second set before the Golden Griffins whittled that lead down to as little as three, 21-18. The Pioneers would go on to score four of the final six points for a 25-20 victory, with the final two points coming on a pair of Canisius hitting errors.
The third set opened up with two points in favor of the home team who never looked back as the set never saw a tie score or a lead change throughout. The Golden Griffens managed to keep it close until a four-point rally for the Pioneers led to a 10-5 lead. Sacred Heart managed to build its lead into double figures at 22-11 thanks to a run that included a kills from Hubert and Short sandwiching a Hagedorn service ace. Despite a late push by Canisius, Short put the set in the books with a kill that provided a 25-16 victory.
The fourth, and final set seesawed back-and-forth in the early going and before all was said and done included five ties and a pair of lead changes. Canisius managed to build three point leads at 10-7 and 13-10 before the Pioneers fought to knot the score at 14 and eventually flip the advantage in their favor at 19-14 using a stretch where the Golden Griffins suffered five hitting errors while an ace from Short provided that five point lead.
Canisius battled back to pull within a single point at 19-18 which forced a Sacred Heart timeout. The Pioneers came out of that break to rattle off three straight before putting the match in the books on a Short Kill that took the match victory with a 25-21 decision in the fourth.
Up Next:
The Pioneers will host Niagara on Saturday evening at the William H. Pitt Center in what is the final regular season home match. Prior to the 6:00 p.m. first serve, Sacred Heart will honor its three senior players: Eliana Rodgers, Cristina Montanez and Gracie DiNardo. All of the action in the MAAC battle will air live on ESPN+.
