Nov. 6, 2009

Final Stats

NEW BRITAIN, CT - The Sacred Heart women's volleyball team knocked home 63 kills at Central Connecticut Friday night, but 17 service errors doomed the Pioneers as they fell to the Blue Devils 3-1 (16-25, 25-16, 30-32, 24-26).

The loss dropped the Pioneers to 19-9 overall and 9-3 in the Northeast Conference. CCSU moved into a second-place tie with SHU at 15-13 overall and 9-3.

SHU came into the match leading the nation in aces, but managed just three Friday night against the 17 errors.

After the two teams traded sets at 25-16, things heated up in the third. The Pioneers seemed to have control of the game, with a 19-13 lead after a Maile Hetherington (Thousand Oaks, CA) kill. Central won the next four points to close within two, but the Pioneers used an Elise Sage (Greenwood Village, CO) kill to lead 23-19.

A Central attack error by Emily Cochran gave the Pioneers a set point at 24-21 but they couldn't finish the Blue Devils off. They won the next three points to knot it at 24-24, but Hetherington gave SHU a second set point after a kill. Again the Blue Devils responded and the two teams traded points back and forth until the set was tied again at 30-30. A Cochran kill and an ace by Amanda Bayer gave Central the marathon win, 32-30.

The fourth set, too, went into extra time before the Blue Devils prevailed 26-24.

The Pioneers were led by freshman Johanna Ovsenek (London, Ontario) who had a career-high 17 kills. Ashlyn Trimble (Temecula, CA) finished with 15, while Brittany Best (Norco, CA) had 13.

The loss snapped a five-game winning streak for the Pioneers against Central Connecticut. SHU returns to the court tomorrow at Bryant University.