UNIVERSITY PARK, PA (April 11, 2015)—Christopher DeLucie (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) led the Pioneers with 12 kills as the Sacred Heart men's volleyball team took a set from No. 7 Penn State in the 3-1 loss Saturday afternoon. The loss drops SHU to 12-11 on the season and 3-7 in Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association play, while the Nittany Lions continue to be undefeated (9-0) in conference and improve to 15-9 overall.

Penn State used its strong blocking game to dominate the Pioneers in the first set. The Nittany Lions combined for 12 blocks in the 25-15 win. After PSU took an early 6-2 lead, the Sacred Heart tried to fight its way back minimizing the gap to two points, 8-6. But the Nittany Lions continued to outscore the Pioneers two to one, and on Taylor Hammond's five-point service run Penn State moved to set point, 24-14. Sacred Heart wasn't done fighting yet, and used Hammond's service error to spark a three-point run featuring an ace from Travis Vonholt (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) and a kill from Austin Arcala (Long Beach, Calif.), but a kill from Nick Goodell put a halt to SHU's run and sealed the win for Penn State.

The Pioneers took the first point of the second set with a kill from Arcala, but PSU was quick to answer with a kill of its own tying the score for the first of seven times in the set. With the score even at nine, Enzo Mackenzie (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), who tallied six kills in the set without an error, registered back-to-back kills giving the Pioneers' a two-point advantage. While slight, SHU maintained the lead throughout the match hitting .379 as a team with 17 kills. Eduardo Zardo (Brasilia, Brazil) racked up 14 assists in SHU's 25-20 win.

The third set started much like the previous one with the teams battling leveling the score 11 times before a kill from Goodell sent PSU on a 6-1 run for a 17-13 lead. Penn State continued to improve on its lead to the 25-17 win giving the Nittany Lions a 2-1 match lead.

Sixteen errors hurt Sacred Heart, who dropped the fourth set 25-18. Trading points in the beginning, the score tied four times, but at four-all PSU managed consecutive points for a 6-4 lead. The Pioneers cut the deficit to one point twice before Penn State went on a four-point run that Sacred Heart never recovered from.

SHU returns home Saturday, April 18 to host George Mason on "Senior Day" beginning at 4:00 p.m.