Match Stats
- Sacred Heart 3, Princeton 0 (25-13, 25-19, 25-20)
- Sacred Heart moves to 10-13, 7-7 EIVA; NJIT falls to 13-13, 6-8 EIVA
- Princeton, New Jersey
- Attendance: 175
- Box Score
Sacred Heart needed a win on Saturday to secure the fourth and final spot in the EIVA Tournament and came through with a road sweep of Princeton to do the job. The Pioneers won the match 25-13, 25-19, 25-20 and actually leapfrogged the Tigers for the No. 3 seed in the tournament by virtue of sweeping the season series.
Sacred Heart outblocked Princeton 14-2 and out-aced the Tigers 9-4 in the win. The Pioneers hit a .431 clip for the match, while holding the Tigers to a .062 effort.
A three-headed monster of Christopher DeLucie, Taylor Bloomquist and Emerson Waumans led the SHU attack. DeLucie downed nine kills, while Bloomquist and Waumans each added eight. DeLucie also accounted for a team-best seven aces, a team-high six digs and five blocks, while hitting .615. Bloomquist hit at a .636 clip and put up a team-leading eight blocks.
Parker Dixon tallied 10 kills on a .316 hitting percentage to lead the Crimson. George Huhmann added six putaways. Four players tallied two digs apiece, while junior middle Junior Oboh posted a team-best two blocks.
The Pioneers snapped a 7-7 tie by scoring 14 of the next 17 points, including four Waumans kills, a trio of DeLucie aces and a pair of blocks by Bloomquist and Eduardo Zardo. Down 21-10, the Tigers scored two of the next three points, but could not stop the 25-13 SHU win.
Sacred Heart went up 6-1 in Set 2, but Princeton charged back with five of the next six points. A 10-3 run pushed the Pioneers ahead 15-8. Three Doug Dzema blocks aided the rally. Two kills and two blocks by Bloomquist put SHU up nine at 21-12. The Tigers cut the margin to five at 23-18 with two kills each by junior outside Kendall Ratter and freshman outside Greg Luck. A Bloomquist putaway sealed the set at 25-19.
Four kills by Parker and a pair of aces by Bill Andrew gave Princeton a 12-8 lead in Set 3. Three DeLucie aces and three Bloomquist blocks aided a 9-0 Pioneer run, which turned the deficit into a 17-12 lead. The Tigers were within three at 18-15, but could not break through. Two Princeton miscues and three DeLucie putaways put Sacred Heart on the hill for the match at 24-19. DeLucie added his ninth kill to cap the sweep.
PRESS RELEASES
Courtesy: Princeton Athletics
Dillon Gym was the land of opportunity this weekend. Princeton took advantage Friday night, and Sacred Heart took advantage Saturday in the regular-season finale.
One night after the Tigers completed a season sweep of Harvard and clinched its fifth EIVA postseason berth in six years, Sacred Heart posted a 3-0 win over Princeton to clinch their own playoff berth. Both teams ended the season with 8-6 EIVA records, but Sacred Heart will claim the third seed due to sweeping Princeton during the season, meaning the Tigers will be seeded fourth and will play Penn State Thursday night in the EIVA semifinal.
Prior to the match, Princeton honored its senior duo of Jonah May and Kurt Thiemann, who played in their final home match. The duo helped Princeton to a 7-2 home record this season, as well as a return trip to the postseason.
Unfortunately, their Dillon finale didn’t go as hoped, as a desperate Sacred Heart team played the best match of any Princeton opponent inside Dillon Gym this season.
The Pioneers hit .431 and limited Princeton to a .062 hitting percentage — one night after the Tigers hit .468 in its postseason-clinching win over Harvard.
Freshman Parker Dixon led the Tigers with 10 kills, while classmate George Huhmann added six. May had 19 assists, while Billy Andrew came in and sparked an early run in the third set with a pair of service aces.
Courtesy: Sacred Heart Athletics
The Sacred Heart men’s volleyball team pulled off the regular season finale with a sweep over the Princeton Tigers, to secure a spot in the EIVA playoffs for the first time since 2010. The Pioneers entered the game in a three way tie for the final spot of the playoffs, with a must win game. Taylor Bloomquist led the way with 8 total blocks, and 8 kills on the day to end the night with a .636 hitting percentage. SHU enters the EIVA tournament as the #3 seed, and look to take on Saint Francis U in the opening round. The Penn State Nittany Lions will serve as the EIVA tournament hosts, with the opening game scheduled for April 20th, at 5:00pm.
Noteworthy-
- Christopher DeLucie was amazing at the service line, registering an incredible 7 service aces
- Bloomquist was a wall at the net, gathering 8 total blocks on the night
- The Pioneers hit .431 as a team, and held the Tigers to a .062 hitting percentage
SET 1-
- Each team started the opening set going back and forth to move the score to 9-7 in favor of SHU
- DeLucie stepped to the service line, and it was all over for the Tigers, as DeLucie fired off eight straight serves, with three being aces to move the score to 21-10
- The Pioneers would roll from there to take the first set 25-13
SET 2-
- SHU found their rhythm early, as they rattled off a 6-1 run to start the set
- Princeton would battle back, moving the score within two after a SHU attack error to move the score to 10-8 in favor of Sacred Heart
- The Pioneers would go on to dominate, as DeLucie, and Bloomquist rattled off a pair of kills to move the score to 19-11
- SHU would end the second set with a Bloomquist kill, and take the set 25-19
SET 3-
- The Pioneers saw their first deficit in the third set, as they started the game trailing 10-6
- SHU would regroup, as they had the EIVA playoffs in sight, to regain the lead 17-12
- DeLucie would collect the final four kills of the match in style, to secure the sweep 25-20
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