LORETTO, Pa. – A month ago, the Sacred Heart University men's volleyball team let a lead slip away in a five-set loss to Saint Francis. Friday the Pioneers returned the favor and came back to beat the Red Flash, 3-2 (22-25, 25-23, 23-25, 25-22, 15-12), at DelGol Arena.
Records:
Sacred Heart: 8-11, 2-9 EIVA
Saint Francis: 12-9, 6-5 EIVA
 
Top Performers:
Patrick Mucherino (SHU) 20 kills, 10 digs
Ife Loverton (SHU) 7 kills, 5 blocks
Asa LaBreche (SHU): 8 kills, 16 digs 
 
Up Next:
Sacred Heart continues its road swing Saturday against #2 Penn State at 2 p.m.
 
Of Note:
Trailing two sets to one, Sacred Heart broke open the fourth set with a 4-1 run. Aaron Peterson had a block and a kill to help SHU force a fifth set.
 
Back-to-back kills by Ife Loverton and Patrick Mucherino gave the Pioneers a 13-10 lead in fifth set. SFU closed within 13-12, but Loverton came through with another kill and a wild final point ended on a Red Flash hitting error.
 
Sacred Heart almost went down 2-0 as the hosts had a 22-19 lead. Mucherino had a pair of kills as the Pioneers rattled off five-straight points to even the match.
 
Leading all players was Mucherino as he notched a career-high 20 kills. It's the most by a Pioneer since Connor Mahony posted 20 against Penn State on February 21, 2020. He added 10 digs for his second double-double in as many weeks.
 
SHU's defense was the difference as the Pioneers had a 50-29 advantage in digs. In his first collegiate start, Asa LaBreche recorded 16 digs and eight kills. Setter Tyler Kwinta handed out 35 assists.