FAIRFIELD, Conn. – After a year off due to the Pitt Center renovations, the Sacred Heart Invitational is back with the women's volleyball team hosting on Friday-Sunday, Sept. 5-7. SHU welcomes LIU, Rutgers and Dartmouth for six matches over the three days. 

CLEANING UP IN MAAC HONORS
After putting up solid performances at the 2025 Spartan Classic, Miliani Villarreal, Ava Roodbol and Ryleigh Short all won Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) weekly awards on Tuesday afternoon. Villarreal collected her outstanding ninth Libero of the Week honor after her first week as a sophomore. The Murrieta, Calif., native led Sacred Heart with 5.82 digs per set in three matches at the event. Roodbol was tabbed the Setter of the Week after tallying 10.27 assists per set this weekend. Short was named the MAAC Rookie of the Week with 3.09 kills and digs per set. 

IMPRESSIVE DEBUTS
This weekend, Roodbol, Short, Lauren Hubert, Abbie Hagedorn, Georgia Murphy and Kelli Ennis all made their debuts with the Pioneers. Short, Hagedorn and Ennis are all first years, while Roodbol, Hubert and Murphy transferred to SHU this summer. Hubert, Short and Hagedorn led the Pioneers with 40, 34 and 29 kills, respectively.

ACROSS THE NET
SCOUTING LIU

• The Sharks are 0-3 heading into this weekend's tournament. 
• LIU opened the season at the Grand Canyon Invitational in Phoenix, Ariz.
• The Sharks were swept by Grand Canyon and Gonzaga while taking Texas Rio Grande Valley to five sets. 
• Junior outside hitter Sara van Gisteren leads the Sharks' offense with 4.00 kills and 11.36 attacks per set. 
• She tallied a 25-kill, 13-dig double-double in the five-set match against UTRGV.
• Defensively, sophomore libero Miabella Musignac averaged 4.09 digs per set over the weekend, tallying 24 against the Vaqueros. 

ALL-TIME SERIES

• The Pioneers and Sharks will meet for the 54th time on Friday afternoon. 
• LIU owns a 34-19 lead over its long-time conference foe. 
• SHU has won 12 of the last 14 meetings in the series.

SCOUTING RUTGERS

• The Scarlet Knights head into the weekend with a 1-2 record after taking part in the Buffalo Invite. 
• Rutgers defeated Marist in the opener, 3-1, before falling in five sets to Liberty and Buffalo. 
• After a strong weekend, sophomore outside hitter Aspen Maxwell represented the Scarlet Knights on the all-tournament team. 
• Maxwell averaged 3.93 kills and added nine blocks across 14 sets. 
• Sophomore setter Lily Bolen also had an outstanding tournament, as her 145 assists over the weekend rank her seventh in the country coming into the SHU Invite. 

ALL-TIME SERIES

• SHU will meet the Scarlet Knights for a fifth time on Saturday. 
• After Rutgers took the first match, the Pios won three straight. 
• The most recent meeting came on Sept. 14, 2013, when Sacred Heart secured a five-set victory.

SCOUTING DARTMOUTH

• Dartmouth will be the lone team this weekend opening its 2025 season. 
• The Big Green went 10-14 overall last year and 3-11 in the Ivy League. 
• Dartmouth was ranked seventh out of eight teams in the Ivy League preseason poll. 
• Senior outside hitter Kauany Gutz led the Big Green last season with 3.16 kills per set on her way to an All-Ivy Honorable Mention selection. 
• She also paced the team with 25 aces, while ranking second with 223 digs. 
• Senior middle blocker Molly Power has been a threat on defense, with a team-best 1.01 blocks per set. 

ALL-TIME SERIES

• The Pios and Big Green will meet for a 10th time in the two teams' histories on Sunday. 
• Dartmouth owns a slim 5-4 lead in the series after taking three of the last four. 
• The teams have met twice in the 2020s, with each program winning one match.