The Sacred Heart University men's volleyball team earned a 3-0 sweep of visiting Saint Francis Brooklyn to open the 2020 schedule. The Pioneers are 1-0 on the year, while the Terriers are 0-1.

The Pioneers earned the win 25-17, 25-21, 25-21. The Pioneers had three players with eight or more digs and hit .316 as a team in the victory.

The Pioneers return to action on Thursday, January 16 at Springfield.

Pioneer Points

• Calin Butler hit .417 on the night, with eight kills and no errors 
• Connor Mahony led the Pioneers with nine kills, while Timothy McIntosh finished with eight kills
• Ramiro Balaguer handed out 19 assists in his two sets, and Tyler Kwinta added 11 in the third set
• Butler and McIntosh both had six digs
• Rob Chatterton finished with match-best eight blocks and also recorded six kills
• Shawn Tischler recorded three solo blocks for the Pioneers

By The Numbers

• The match marked the first Division I men's volleyball contest for St. Francis Brooklyn
• Bartlomiej Zielinksi led all players with 10 kills, and also had a team-best six digs
• St. Francis hit .047 on Friday evening
• Timothy Walsh had two solo, six total, blocks for the Terriers

Set 1 (SHU 25-17)

• SHU built an early 4-1 lead out of the gate and maintained the lead until a 3-0 run by the Terriers knotted the match 8-8
• SFBK won two of the next three points to take a 10-9 lead
• SHU built a 14-10 lead with a 5-0 run, culminated by a block from Chatterton, forcing a SFBK timeout
• The Terriers rattled off three of four points to battle back to within 16-14 before a 4-0 Pioneer run pushed the edge to 20-14, forcing another Terrier timeout
• Chatterton and Butler delivered a huge block for SHU to end the first set and lock down the 25-17 final
• SHU closed the set on a 9-4 run, including the final four points of the set

Set 2 (SHU 25-21)

• After a 6-2 start for SHU to open the second set, SFBK kept it close, getting within two on three occasions before getting within one at 10-9 with a kill
• The Pioneers scored three-straight on kills from Tischler and McIntosh to build a 13-9 lead, and then extended the run to 7-1 to take their largest lead of the set at 17-10, prompting a SFBK timeout
• Following the break, a 4-0 run by the Terriers brought them within 17-14 as SHU called timeout
• The Terriers scored three of the next four points to get within 22-21 before McIntosh hammered home a kill to end the run, before Chatteron and Butler followed with a block to get SHU to set-point at 24-21
• McIntosh gave the Pioneers the set win, with a kill on the next service

Set 3 (SHU 25-21)

• Each team exchanged 3-0 runs to begin the third set and knot up the score 4-4.
• The teams exchanged points before SHU rattled off five unanswered, capped by a block by Tischler to take a 10-6 lead
• A Chatterton and Butler block and an ace from Tischler grew the lead seven at 15-8.
• Three straight points and an extended 5-1 run helped the Terriers storm back within one at 18-17, but Paola Samin quelled the spurt with back-to-back kills, followed by a hammer from Butler to push the lead to four, 21-17
• Butler and Chatterton combined for another huge block to bring it to match point, where Chatterton delivered the final kill to give SHU the sweep