LORETTO, Penn. – The Sacred Heart men's volleyball team fell in three tight sets at Saint Francis U on Friday night, falling to 6-15 overall and 4-7 in Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA) play.

SHU matched Saint Francis U (16-8, 7-4 EIVA) with 39 digs and was just one behind in blocks, 7-6, and service aces, 3-2, but could not slow down a Red Flash offensive attack that swung .375. The Pioneers hit .157. 

Jeff Hogan and Stephen Braswell paced SFU with 14 and 13 kills, respectively. Daniel Ford had a double double of 38 assists and ten digs.

Joshua Ayzenberg recorded a new career-high with a match-high 17 digs and Austin Arcala led Sacred Heart with ten kills. 

SHU continues its Pennsylvania road trip tomorrow with a 7 pm match at Penn State.

How it Happened

• First Set (21-25) – Tied at five, Saint Francis took control with four straight points, the final coming on a Ford service ace. Sacred Heart called a timeout and regrouped with the next two points, but the Red Flash took four of the next five points to complete a 9-3 run for 13-8 advantage on back-to-back Hogan kills. SHU fought all the way back to make it 19-18 on two consecutive kills by Trent Thompson, capping a 4-0 stretch, but a Hogan kill and Pioneer error grew SFU's lead back to three and it would get no closer than two.
• Second Set (20-25)- Trailing by as much as four early, Sacred Heart came back to tie it for a first time at eight with straight points and a sixth tie would come at 16. From there, Saint Francis U pulled away with five points in a row, the final coming on a Ford service ace, and the Red Flash would go on to the two sets to zero lead.
• Third Set (19-25) – Four unanswered points put Saint Francis U on top 8-4 for a second straight set and the Red Flash would lead throughout. SHU got within 12-11, but again it was four straight points for the Red Flash that put them ahead comfortably once more. Arcala did his best to pull the Pioneer back into it with a kill and service ace to bring the score to 21-19, but it proved to be to much as SFU tallied the final four points for the sweep.