NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Sacred Heart University women's volleyball team took defending Ivy League champions Yale to four sets in the Yale Invitational, as the Pios fell 3-1 on Friday evening at the Payne Whitney Gymnasium. 

Records:
Sacred Heart: 0-7
Yale: 2-2
 
Top Performers:
Camryn Luginbuhl: 19 kills, 6 digs, .256 hitting percentage
Gaby Zovko: 21 assists, 13 digs, 7 kills
Dominique Felix: 12 kills, .333 hitting percentage
Jasmine Rogers: 19 digs
 
How It Happened:
Friday's match started with the Pios winning the first three points, riding that momentum to an early 9-7 advantage. Yale answered by winning five of the following six points to take a 12-10 lead. The teams then traded 3-0 runs before a 4-1 surge by the Bulldogs put them up 19-14. SHU drew the deficit to two, 21-19, but fell in the set by a 25-20 final score. 

Yale opened the second frame by going up five, 8-3, after 11 points. The Bulldogs' advantage grew to as high as seven, 14-7, in the set before the Pios began to chip away. Sacred Heart stole a few points before cutting the deficit to two, 18-16, following a 5-0 push. The Pioneers received contributions from the entire rotation in the run, as Jasmine Rogers tallied an ace, Cristina Montanez and Emily Sawyer each had a block, Camryn Luginbuhl had a kill, and Gaby Zovko posted a pair of assists. 

SHU's deficit returned to three, 24-21, as Yale earned a set point. From there, the Pioneers showed their grit, fighting off three set points to tie the score at 24-all. Sacred Heart defended another Bulldogs' set point before forcing their own at 26-25 after a Zovko kill. Rogers iced the win for SHU with an ace to send the teams tied at 1-1 heading into the third set. 

The teams sat knotted at 4-4 after the first eight points in the third set until Yale edged ahead 8-5 a few points later. A 4-0 Pios' run gave the visitors the lead at 9-8 before Yale tied the score at 10-all. Tied at 10, the teams traded eight consecutive points as the score sat 15-14 in SHU's favor. Unfortunately for the Pioneers, the Bulldogs ended the set on an 11-2 run to take a 25-17 win. 

Sacred Heart found itself ahead 8-6 after the first 14 points in the fourth set until a 4-0 run by the home squad gave the Bulldogs a 10-8 advantage. An ensuing 5-1 run widened Yale's advantage to 16-12. The Pios reached down again and fought back to take a 17-16 lead following a 5-0 surge. Sloane Rooney highlighted the run with two beautiful aces. Eliana Rodgers joined the party with a pair of aces to help widen the SHU lead to three, 21-18. The Pios were up 23-20 and on the verge of serving for set point when Yale strung together a 6-1 run to steal the set 26-24, sealing a 3-1 win for the home team. 

Luginbuhl posted her best match of the year tonight with a season-high 19 kills while hitting .256 on 43 attempts. Dominique Felix also tallied a season-high in kills with 12, hitting a stellar .333 on 30 attempts. Zovko continued to rack up double-doubles, as she finished tonight with 21 assists, 13 digs, and a season-best seven kills. As a team, SHU tallied a season-high 10 aces. 

Up Next:
The Pioneers conclude the Yale Invitational on Saturday with a 5 p.m. match against the University of Rhode Island.