Volleyball Tops Sacred Heart in Five Sets on Friday

Central Connecticut overcame Sacred Heart in a five-set thriller on Friday night at Detrick Gymnasium in New Britain, CT. Central bounced back from setbacks in the first and fourth sets to hand the Pioneers their first conference defeat.

GAME INFORMATION
Score:  CCSU 3, SHU 2 (20-25, 25-18, 25-18, 12-25, 15-13)
Records: CCSU (8-6, 2-1 NEC), SHU (8-8, 2-1 NEC)
Location: Detrick Gymnasium | New Britain, CT

KEY MOMENTS 

• CCSU held an early 5-2 lead in the opening set, but that was the largest lead either team would have up until the Pioneers closed the frame. The set was knotted, 18-18, but SHU would take the lead for good on the next point and go on to win the set by scoring three straight points.
• The Blue Devils did not trail in the second set. A kill by Isabelle Roufs put CCSU ahead 8-6 and open a spurt of four straight points. Central stretched the lead to 23-15 before leveling the match.
• Central would again lead throughout the third frame. A service ace by Roufs gave CCSU its largest lead of the frame at 11-4. The Blue Devils would score the final three points of the frame to go up 2-1 in the match.
• Sacred Heart controlled play in the fourth set, leading from start to finish. The Pioneers would win the set to send the match to a fifth set.
• In the fifth set, the match went back-and-forth with neither team leading by more than one point. Back-to-back kills by Lauren Milani gave CCSU match point at 14-13. Milani and Roufs would combine for a block on the ensuing rally to give Central the win.

QUOTABLE

"We did a lot of work in practice in the past week because we felt like the match against LIU got away from us after winning the first two sets," said head coach Linda Sagnelli. "We got caught in set four [tonight] making mistakes that I haven't seen us make in practice all week. When we came over [before the fifth set] I said, 'This is it and this will be about the character of the team, what's our story going to be?' There you go, the team decided we're going to be gritty and we're going to have a strong resolve and they went out and showed it."

NUMBER TO KNOW

3 - The Blue Devils played just one match longer than three sets, and no five-set matches, in the first 11 matches of the season. Central has played three straight five-set matches in Northeast Conference play.

NOTES 

• Central snapped an eight-match skid in the series with the win. The Blue Devils are 21-24 in the series dating back to 2002.
• Milani posted her fourth double-double of the season with 12 kills and 12 digs, along with two service aces. Milani totaled four kills and hit .571 in the fifth set.
• Nyjha Marcelin had a team-high 14 kills and added four blocks.
• Weronika Poczynek posted her third straight double-double, totaling 11 kills and 14 digs.
• Tori Boulay matched a season-high with 28 assists for the third straight match.
• The Blue Devils totaled 13 blocks in the match, their second-highest total of the season. Roufs had eight blocks to lead the defense.

UP NEXT
CCSU travels to Saint Francis U on Friday, October 7, for a 5:00 p.m. contest. Links to live stats and video to follow the matches are available HERE.