FAIRFIELD, Conn. – After dropping a close first set, 28-26, the Sacred Heart men's volleyball team could not bounce back in a three set lose to Cal Baptist on Thursday night at William H. Pitt Center. The loss snaps a two game winning streak for the Pioneers, who fall to 5-12.

SHU could not slow down the Cal Baptist (11-13) attack that swung .360, led by Rocky DeLyon's 14 kills on .565 hitting. Roy Powell added 12 kills and Luis Palos had eight. Emmett Enriques led the match with 12 digs and Zachary Melcher had 35 assists.

Austin Arcala and Christopher DeLucie had 13 kills each for Sacred Heart, who hit .221. No other Pioneer had more than four kills.

SHU returns to Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball play next Saturday, March 26, hosting Harvard at 4 pm.

How it Happened

• First Set (26-28)– Sacred Heart took its second four-point lead, 16-12, on a Taylor Bloomquist kill, but Cal Baptist stormed back with five straight points to go up 17-16. After CBU took an 18-17 lead, the Pioneers answered with five of the next six points, capped by a DeLucie kill, to reestablish a three-point advantage, 22-19. The Lancers would not go away though, scoring three in a row to tie for a ninth time. Trading points, SHU staved off three set points before Enrique Garcia and DeLyon finally put the set away with back-to-back kills.
• Second Set (19-25)- Tied for the eighth time at 9-9, Cal Baptist finally broke away with four consecutive points. DeLucie brought Sacred Heart back within two with back-to-back kills, but this time it was the Lancers scoring three in a row to cap a 7-2 run on DeLyon's kill that made the score 16-11. Five separate times the Pioneers managed to get as close as three, the latest coming at 21-18, but each time CBU had the answer.
• Third Set (18-25)- Cutting a once four-point to lead to 17-15 on a DeLucie kill, SHU finally ran out of gas as CBU responded with five unanswered, three of which were by Powell, including the final one to bring the score to 22-15.