FAIRFIELD, CONN. (April 3, 2015)—Eduardo Zardo (Brasilia, Brazil) totaled 43 assists in the Sacred Heart men's volleyball team's 3-0 defeat of NJIT Friday night on Coach Bike Court. Zardo commanded the offense making way for Enzo Mackenzie (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) to lead the match with 14 kills. The win improves the Pioneers' record to 11-9 on the season and 2-5 against Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Associate opponents, while the Highlanders fall to 8-10 this season and 0-6 in conference play.

The Pioneers hit .778 collectively and committed no hitting errors in the first set cruising to a 25-14 victory. Travis Vonholt (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) was perfect converting all four of his attacks into kills. The junior along with Austin Arcala (Long Beach, Calif.) led the set with four kills.

After trailing for most of the second set, SHU used a 5-2 streak to overcome the deficit taking a 23-22 lead, but the Highlanders were quick to even the score again at 23. The score tied a dozen more times with neither team willing to give up the set, but the Pioneers' determination prevailed as three consecutive kills from Arcala, Chris Delucie (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) and Mackenzie (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) clinched the 37-35 win. Zardo continued to be impressive tallying 20 assists in the second set alone.

NJIT took the first two points of the third set on SHU errors, but kills from Raymond Satagaj (Rocky Hill, Conn.) and Mackenzie knotted the score ate two. The back and forth action from the end of the second set carried over into the third as the score evened four times early. The Pioneers managed a three-point lead, 10-7, thanks to a 6-2 run, but the Highlanders worked their way back reclaiming the lead, 11-10 on TJ Jurko's service ace. With the Pioneers and Highlanders battling, the score leveled for the final time at 21 all, but Mackenzie registered back-to-back kills to give SHU a two-point advantage. NJIT got one more off a Sacred Heart service error, but the Pioneers moved to match-point as the Highlanders' committed one of their own. Luke Robbe tried to keep NJIT alive holding off SHU's win with a kill, but it wasn't enough as Vonholt clinched the victory 25-23 with a kill.

Sacred Heart will host Princeton Saturday evening at 5:00 p.m. on Coach Bike Court.