Volleyball Drops Thriller to Sacred Heart

CCSU volleyball overcame a 2-0 set deficit to force a winner-take-all fifth set, but were edged out by the Pioneers in five.

GAME INFORMATION

FINAL SCORE CCSU 2 SHU 3

RECORDS CCSU (8-12, 5-3 NEC) SHU (12-7, 6-2 NEC)

KEY MOMENTS

• The Blue Devils came out of the gates against the Pioneers a bit sluggish to start, and fell behind early in the first set. Two straight kills from senior Emma Henderson tied things back up at 15 and were able to hang around until a late run from the Pioneers sealed things at 25-20. Nyjha Marcelin had a set-high six kills in the first.
• The second set started off as a back and forth affair, with both teams trading points up to 10. A three point swing gave the Pioneers momentum after this, as SHU used a 6-2 run to take the second set.
• Despite facing elimination, the Blue Devils came into the third ready for battle. A decisive kill from Marcelin gave the Blue Devils the lead at 11-10.
• The Pioneers did not give up then, however, and tied the match at 23. Marcelin took control of the match here, recording a solo block and then two straight kills to win the third set for CCSU and force a fourth.
• After stunning the Pioneers and forcing a fourth set, the Blue Devils struck while the iron was hot and ran away with the fourth. CCSU never trailed once in the set, scoring at will and diving for digs across the court. The Blue Devils had their best hitting percentage of the match (.297) in the fourth.
• After SHU cut the lead to four, kills from Lauren Milani and Marcelin iced the set 25-19.
• Neither team could push out a lead early in the fifth. The score sat tied six times until the Blue Devils were able to get a swing their way, taking an 11-8 lead late. SHU took a timeout following this and went on a tear out of it, scoring five straight to take the lead back. The Blue Devils were able to get two points back following a time out of their own, but a ball hit just outside the lines won the match for the Pioneers by two points.

NOTES

• Ashlyn Eisenga moved into second all-time for career digs at CCSU. She now sits at 1,394.
• This is the second match up with the Pioneers this season for CCSU. They were swept on the road in their previous match up.
• Marcelin set a new career high with 22 kills in the match. She had six kills in two seperate sets.
• Milani also posted a new best with 15 digs in the match.

UP NEXT...

The Blue Devils will have a week off before playing in two away matches next weekend. They face the LIU Sharks for the second time this season on October 29 and travel to Saint Francis U on October 30. The Blue Devils defeated both of these teams earlier this season in 3-1 victories.