The Sacred Heart University men's volleyball team dropped a 3-1 decision at EIVA member Princeton Saturday evening.  The loss drops the Pioneers to 3-10 overall and 3-3 in league play, while the Tigers improve to 3-10 on the year and 3-10 in EIVA action.

The four-set match was closely contested throughout. The Tigers earned wins in the first two sets, 30-28 and 25-23, before the Pioneers earned a third set victory, 25-22. The Tigers captured the match with a 25-21 victory in the fourth set.

Chris Delucie led SHU with 16 kills and a .412 hitting percentage.  He also recorded six digs and four block assists.  Austin Arcala finished with 14 kills and six digs, while Eduardo Zardo added 40 assists, six digs and four kills.

The Pioneers return to action on Saturday, March 5 at EIVA foe Harvard.

Set 1

• The teams traded points over the first six points, before Princeton embarked on a 6-3 run to build a 11-6 edge
• Delucie served the Pioneers to the next three points, cutting the deficit to 11-9, before Princeton opened the lead back to five, 18-13
• Princeton maintained that lead through 22-17, when a Taylor Bloomquist kill began a Pioneer rally
• SHU battled back to tie the match 24-24 and traded points until taking a 27-26 edge on a Bloomquist kill
• The Tigers tied the match on the next point before a service error gave the Pioneers a 28-27 advantage
• Three straight points for Princeton from that point clinched the victory

Set 2

• The second set was equally as competitive, with the teams tying at every point through 6-6
• SHU trailed 6-5 before a Michael Comes kill knotted it 6-6, and started a 4-0 Pioneer run to build a 9-6 lead
• Princeton battled back, tying the match 11-11 before a Delucie kill made it 12-11
• The set was tied at 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, and 20
• Princeton scored three straight to take a 23-20 edge and pull away for the win

Set 3

• Princeton scored first in the third set and afte trailing 2-1, SHU scored six of the next seven point to build an 8-3 advantage
• Princeton closed within two points eight points during the rest of the set, but each time SHU answered
• After the Tigers made it 22-20, a Tiger service error gave SHU the three-point advantage
• Arcala and Doug Dzema blocked Kurt Thiemann for a 24-20 edge
• After a Tiger point, Delucie killed a Zardo set for the set victory

Set 4

• SHU scored the first point on a Bloomquist kill and the set was tied five times, the last at 7-7, in the first 14 points
• A Princeton service error gave SHU an 8-7 edge, and a Bloomquist and Delucie block pushed that advantage to 9-7
• The Pioneers built that advantage to 11-8 and maintained the three point lead at 14-11
• Princeton cut the deficit to 18-16 before back-to-back attack errors gave SHU a 20-16 edge
• The Tigers would close the match with nine of the last 10 points