NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The Sacred Heart University men's volleyball team defeated Merrimack in four-set thriller. Aleksa Mandic led the Pioneers with 14 kills hitting .324.
 
Records:
SHU: 5-11 (0-6 EIVA)
Merrimack: 10-6 
 
Top Performers:
Aleksa Mandic: 14 kills (.324), 1 ace, 6 digs
Dylan McClung: 8 kills (.357), 3 aces, 2 block assists
Jaron Popp: 8 kills (.077), 3 aces, 12 digs
Cade Trujillo: 30 assists, 9 digs, 3 block assists
 
How it Happened:
The Pios secured an early lead in the first and extended it with a four-point run with a trio of kills from Aleksa Mandic, Aaron Johnson and Jaron Popp.
 
After being up by two, the Warriors secured a five-point run to take the 21-19 lead. The Pios did not give up. SHU capitalized on Warrior errors going on a 7-3 run to take the first set 26-24.
 
Merrimack maintained an early lead in the second that SHU was unable to comeback from ultimately falling 25-17. 
 
The Pios held onto a four-point lead in the third, but Merrimack tied things up at 21 with a trio of Pio errors. After a bit of back-and-forth play, the Pios secured the 26-24 win.
 
The Pios secured a five-point lead in the fourth with kills from Popp and Dylan McClung. The Warriors closed the gap with a five-point run with a trio of service aces. Back-and-forth play resulted in an extra-long set that SHU secured with a kill from Ken Naples.
 
Up Next
Sacred Heart returns home tomorrow to face Saint Thomas Aquinas for senior day at 7 p.m.