Box Score NEW BRITAIN, Conn. – The Sacred Heart volleyball team continues to lead the Northeast Conference, as it held off Central Connecticut State in four sets on Saturday night at Detrick Gymnasium. With just five matches left, the Pioneers' 8-1 league mark (14-9 overall) is good for a half game lead over LIU Brooklyn and Bryant, who both stand at 8-2.
After CCCSU (10-14, 2-8 NEC) extended the match with a tight 25-23 third set victory, SHU ran away with the fourth, 25-17, the first set decided by more than two points.. After falling behind 10-4 early, the Pioneers ripped off nine points, three of the first four which were Tori Kemper kills, to take a three point lead. Central would pull within one twice, at 13-12 and 14-13, but four consecutive Sarah Krufka Kills to make the score 20-14 put the match away for good.
With a match-high 22 kills on .314 hitting, Krufka became the fourth player in SHU history to surpass 1,000 for her career. Kemper added 18, a career-best for a four set match, on a career-high .486 hitting.
Allison Riggs also produced a career-high with seven block assists, while also adding eight kills. With 20 block assists as a team, SHU matched a season-high, which is also the most the program has had since at least the 2010 season.
Kiki Robinson and Bruna Bon led Sacred Heart in assists and digs, with 29 and 12 respectively. Makenna Lommori had 20 kills for the Blue Devils, while Cassidy Stankowski and Rachel Fish each finished with a match-high 14 digs.
With first place on the line, the Pioneers will travel to Rhode Island for a match against the aforementioned Bryant Bulldogs tomorrow at 1 pm.
Noteworthy
- Sacred Heart's 62 kills as a team were its most in a four-set match since recording 67 in a win over Fairleigh Dickinson on November 2, 2013.
- After only having one match with six kills in the first 18 matches of the season, Riggs now has least six kill in each of the past five matches.
How it Happened
- First Set – Trailing 18-17, Sacred Heart ran off three consecutive kills by Bon, Riggs, and Krufka. CCSU would cut the lead to one, 21-20, but again the Pioneers scored three unanswered, capped by a kill from Kemper.
- Second Set – In a set where there was only one lead larger then two, 6-3 SHU, neither team would give in until the Pioneers prevailed 30-28. Sacred Heart did so by denying two set points and scoring four of the final five points, which included kills by Bon and Kemper.
- Third Set - After Central scored the first eight points of the set, and 12 of the first 13, SHU battled all the way back to tie it for the first time at 22. That capped a 17-6 run, which included stretches of six unanswered and five unanswered. After that first tie, the Blue Devils scored three of the final four points, taking advantage of a service error and attack error before a Lommori kill to extend the match.
