FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Sacred Heart University men's volleyball team suffered a four-set loss to Purdue Fort Wayne Friday night at the William H Pitt Center.

Records:
Sacred Heart: 0-2
Purdue Fort Wayne: 3-0

Top Performers:
Patrick Mucherino: 20 kills, 1 ace, 2 assists, 3 digs
Carlos Santa Cruz: 10 kills, 3 aces
Petr Beranek: 9 kills, 4 digs
 
How It Happened:
The Pioneers won the second set after holding off match-point at 24-23. SHU went on to take three straight points following a timeout to win 26-24. Sacred Heart opened the frame by winning eight of the first 13 points to keep a steady lead. The Pioneers and Mastodons went on to battle to eight ties in the set. Back-to-back kills from Patrick Mucherino and a kill from Jaron Popp sealed the victory.
 
The other three sets were closely contested with consistent back-to-back play. Unfortunately for SHU, Purdue Fort Wayne took the first, third and fourth frames to seal the non-conference win. 
 
Patrick Mucherino paced the Sacred Heart offense Friday with 20 kills. First year libero Bartek Olczyk led the team with 10 digs. Carlos Santa Cruz hit double-digit kills with 10. First years Petr Beranek and Jaron Popp showed up offensively with nine and seven kills, respectively. At setter, Teddy Payne had 46 assists, just one shy of his career high.
 
Up Next:
The Pioneers head to Atlantic City, N.J., on Saturday to face Belmont Abbey at noon and Barton at 5:00 p.m. in the Battle 4 the Boardwalk tournament