FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Sacred Heart University women's volleyball team bounced back in a big way Saturday afternoon, sweeping LIU at the Pitt Center to strengthen its lead in the Northeast Conference (NEC) standings.
Records:
Sacred Heart: 9-12, 8-1 NEC
LIU: 7-16, 6-3 NEC
Top Performers:
Gaby Zovko: 33 assists, 9 kills, 9 digs
Camryn Luginbuhl: 16 kills, 9 digs, .205 hitting percentage
Dominique Felix: 13 digs, 10 kills
How It Happened:
The Sharks started the first set up 5-1 after six points before a Pios' 7-2 run gave the home team an 8-7 advantage. The teams began to trade points until a 5-0 SHU surge widened the advantage to four, 19-15. The Sharks continued to battle, evening the score at 20-20 to set up an exciting finish.
Camryn Luginbuhl helped spark the Pioneers to a first-set, 25-23 victory with two kills and an assist.
After trailing 3-1 early in the second, a 6-0 SHU run gave the home team a 7-3 lead. LIU continued to be a thorn in the Pios' side, as it quickly knotted the score at 8-all. The Sharks then rode that momentum to take an 18-14 advantage. Sacred Heart did not let the set get away from them, stringing together a 7-2 run to go up 21-20. The Pioneers continued to pressure, forcing set point at 24-22. Two straight Sharks' points tied things up before a 2-0 Pios surge ended the frame 26-24.
Up 2-0, the Pioneers burst out of the gates in the third to go up 8-3. Sacred Heart went up as much as seven, 12-5, answered by a 5-0 LIU run to cut the margin to two, 12-10. The Sharks continued to eat away at the deficit until the score was tied at 16-16. From there, the Pios ended the set on a 9-2 run to seal the sweep with a 25-18 victory.
Gaby Zovko posted another outstanding outing with 33 assists, nine kills and nine digs.
Dominique Felix ended the night with a double-double with 13 kills and 10 digs, giving her a double-double on back-to-back nights. Luginbuhl came close to also posting a double-double on 16 kills and nine digs.
Up Next:
Sacred Heart returns to the road on Friday, Oct. 27, to play Central Connecticut State University at 5 p.m. New Britain, Conn.
