Volleyball Downs Sacred Heart in Five Sets on Sunday

The Central Connecticut volleyball team defeated Sacred Heart in five sets on Sunday at Detrick Gymnasium to remain unbeaten in Northeast Conference play. The matchup was between a pair of undefeated teams in conference play entering the day. The Blue Devils moved to 5-0 in NEC play and 9-7 overall with the win.

Freshman Morgan Woycik led CCSU with 17 kills, while sophomore Raquel Quirarte added 13 kills. Sophomore Kaitlyn Kushman had 31 assists and freshman Erin McDermott finished with 21 assists. Senior Rachel Fish had 26 digs, while senior Brooke Schwab and junior Maddie Smith each had 10 blocks.

After falling 25-22 in the opening set, Central took command of the second set early on. The Blue Devils raced out to build a 10-3 lead following a block by Schwab and freshman Gala Galabova. CCSU would lead by double-figures much of the set and go on to win, 25-12.

Central broke an 8-8 tie in set three with a run of six straight points. A kill by senior Cassidy Stankowski made it 14-8 and CCSU would lead the rest of the set. Sacred Heart got within 24-22, but after a CCSU timeout a Pioneers error ended the set in the Blue Devils' favor.

CCSU built an 13-10 lead in the fourth set, following back-to-back kills by Woycik, but the Pioneers would battle back to even the set at 18-18. SHU broke a 21-all tie with three unanswered points and won the set 25-23 to force a fifth set.

The Blue Devils took a 9-5 lead following an ace by Kushman and would not trail the rest of the set. A kill from Stankowski followed by one from Galabova would close out the match with a 15-9 win in the set.

Fish has moved into third-place on the CCSU career digs list with 1,248. 

Central travels to St. Francis Brooklyn on Saturday, Oct. 15, for a 1:00 p.m. match.