FAIRFIELD, CONN. (March 13, 2015)—Enzo Mackenzie (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) hit a match-leading 19 kills in the Sacred Heart men's volleyball team's five-set win over Barton Friday night on Coach Bike Court. Sophomore setter Eduardo Zardo (Brasilia, Brazil) averaged 9.8 assists per set racking up 49 throughout the match that improved SHU's season record to 9-8.

After trading opening points, Mackenzie's 10-point service run excelled Sacred Heart to a 14-3 lead in the fist set. The Bulldogs never could recover from the deficit falling 25-10. Raymond Satagaj (Rocky Hill, Conn.) led the set with three kills hitting .400.

The Pioneers maintained a slight lead in the beginning of the second set, and used four three-point mini streaks to improve their lead to 10 points, 21-11. With SHU two points away from clinching a 2-0 match lead, the Bulldogs rallied for three points, but back-to-back kills from Austin Arcala (Long Beach, Calif.) and Mackenzie sealed 25-15 win for Sacred Heart.

Sacred Heart jumped out to an early lead with a Mackenzie ace giving the Pioneers a 5-3 advantage. The Bulldogs came back to even the score at 6, but a kill from Arcala tipped the score back in SHU's favor. The score tied again at 10 and 12 Barton took its first lead on a double block by Brennan O'Connor and Charles Hyde. A kill from Mackenzie combined with two Barton hitting errors put the Pioneers back on top, 15-13. In a set that saw the lead trade hands four times, the Bulldogs took a two-point lead, 17-15, on back-to-back kills forcing SHU Head Coach Kalani Efstathiou to call his first timeout. Up 20-18, Barton went charging for its first win with a three-point streak that was halted by a Trent Thompson (Kailua, Hawaii) kill. The rookie sparked a SHU comeback as the Pioneers rallied around Arcala's serving for four more points knotting the score at 23. Trading service errors moved the Bulldogs to set-point, 25-24. A kill from Pierre Tang-Taye gave Barton its first set of the night.

The fourth set looked much like the third with the teams trading the lead four times, but this time it was the Pioneers playing catch-up throughout trailing after a 15-15 tie broke in favor of the Bulldogs. A kill from Mackenzie and an ace from Connor Bohl (Centennial, Colo.) minimized Barton's lead to two points, 24-22, but that was as close as SHU would get as once again a kill from Tang-Taye won the set for the Bulldogs forcing a decisive fifth set.

After exchanging opening points, the Pioneers used a four-point streak bookended by kills from Travis Vonholt (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) to jump out to a 5-2 lead. The slight lead was all Sacred Heart needed as the Pioneers recorded an errorless fifth set hitting .421 collectively en route to the 15-9 win.

Sacred Heart hosts two matches next weekend, an exhibition against Alderson Broaddus at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, and a non-conference contest against Marymount Saturday at 7:00 p.m.