Live Friday: Watch | Live Stats

Live Saturday: Watch | Live Stats

Loretto, Pa. – After a conference opening win over Merrimack last Saturday, the Saint Francis women's volleyball team looks to keep the momentum going with road matches at Sacred Heart (5-9, 1-1 NEC) on Friday and defending champion Bryant (7-11, 2-0 NEC) on Saturday.
 
Scouting the Pioneers
 
Sacred Heart is one of the favorites to win the NEC after making the Northeast Conference Championship last season behind all-conference performers Sarah Ciszek and Liisel Nelis. Ciszek was highly-decorated as a freshman, earning the NEC Rookie and Setter of the Year. Nelis joined her on the All-Conference First Team in 2018 and once again leads Sacred Heart in kills this season with 126. Sophomore Julian Kim is second on the team with 121 kills. As a team, the Pioneers rank second in the NEC in kills per set (12.17) and service aces per set (1.53). Sacred Heart opened conference play last week with a win over St. Francis Brooklyn and a loss to LIU.
 
Scouting Bryant
 
Bryant knocked off Sacred Heart in last year's NEC title game and is off to a quick start in league play with wins over Fairleigh Dickinson and St. Francis Brooklyn. The Bulldogs had to replace two of their three all-conference performers from a season ago in Julia Flynn (First Team) and Kristin Kingi (Second Team). Sophomore Caroline Kennedy, a Second Team All-Conference performer as a freshman, has stepped up in their absence with 145 kills. Freshman Riley James is another dynamic leaper and leads the Bulldogs with 147 kills. The young team continues to improve and is 7-7 in its last 14 games after an 0-4 start.
 
Double The Trouble
 
Sophomores Madi Tyus (Plano, TX/Bishop Lynch) and Kimmy Sweeney (Broadview Heights, OH/Beaumont School) became the first duo to record double-doubles in the same game this season with Tyus registering 20 kills and 17 digs and Sweeney notching 42 assists and 12 digs in a win over Merrimack. For Tyus, the double-double was her fifth of the season and the 17^th of her career. Sweeney notched her third of the season and the 11^th of her career.
 
Adams in Attack Mode
 
Nicole Adams (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa East) was in attack mode early and often in the win over Merrimack, finishing with a season-high 17 kills. Adams had 15 or more kills in four games as a freshman but notched just her second double-digit kill game of her sophomore campaign on Saturday.
 
Aces Wild
 
Saint Francis racked up 14 service aces in the win over the Warriors which is the highest team total since recording 15 in a five-set win over Canisius on Sept. 4, 2015. It was a balanced effort from the Red Flash as Adams, junior Logan Belford (Loveland, Colo./Loveland) and freshman Gabby Krug (Altoona, PA/Bishop Guilfoyle) all registered three kills. Krug's three kills came in a critical 11-0 run in the fourth set to put the match out of reach.