LD, Conn. – The Sacred Heart men's volleyball team came back from a 2-1 deficit to force a fifth set, where the Pioneers would ultimately fall 13-15 in their regular season finale at the William H. Pitt Center on early Saturday evening. SHU ends its 2016 campaign 7-17 overall and 5-9 in Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball play to finish sixth.

Trailing by as many as three through much of the decisive fifth set, including as late as 11-8, Sacred Heart stormed all the way back with four of the next five points to tie it at a first time at 12 on an attacking error. Princeton momentarily retook the lead on a Devin Stearns kill, but again the Pioneers would even things up at 13 with a Taylor Bloomquist kill. The comeback would end there though, as the Tigers got a kill from Kurt Thiemann before clinching the victory on a SHU error. 

After swinging .458 percent in a 25-18 opening set victory, Sacred Heart hit just .158 for the remainder of the match and finished with an overall hitting percentage of .210, slightly below Princeton's .220.  The two team were also dead even in kills, 59-57, and assists, 56-56.

SHU however was dominant at the net with 19 blocks, its most in a match since the 2010 season and one shy of moving into the top five for a single match in the Division I era. Bloomquist, Doug Dzema and Robert Costigan III each set new career-highs by playing part in eight, eight and seven respectively. Eduardo Zardo took part in four, while Michael Comens and Austin Arcala each were involved in three.

Recognized as Sacred Heart's lone senior prior to the beginning of the match, Arcala led the Pioneers with 18 kills and added eight digs to finish his career by surpassing the 600 and 400 mark in the respective categories. He ends the season with an average of 3.72 kills per set, good for third in the EIVA and fifth all-time in a single season in program history.

Also moving into the SHU record books was Joshua Ayzenberg, who with three digs today ends the year with 219, fourth most in single season history, while his 2.55 digs per set moves him into fifth.

As for the team, its .237 hitting percentage for the season is now fifth in the single season annuals. 

Comens was right behind Arcala with 15 kills and added ten digs for his first second career double double. Bloomquist reached double digit kills for the first time in his career with 11. Zardo led the match 52 assist, setting a new season-high.

For Princeton (4-18, 4-10), Stearns led all players with 22 kills, while Kurth Theimann added 18. Chris Kennedy recorded a match-high 11 digs with Cory Short right behind with ten. The Tigers held a 45-37 advantage in digs.