BROOKLYN, N.Y. — The LIU women's volleyball team and Sacred Heart met on Saturday night in a highly anticipated match between the two conference favorites.
 
The Sharks started off strong, winning the first set and taking an early lead in the second, but the Pioneers kept on fighting. LIU and Sacred Heart would go back and forth with each team not quite being able to pull away.
 
While LIU had its share of momentum swings, it just was not enough as the Sharks fell in a five-set heartbreaker 26-24, 24-26, 25-29, 20-25, 12-15.
  
Amaris Smith led LIU in kills with 20, breaking her season-high of 19 which she recorded on Friday. Camelia Melendez added 11 kills and Celine Mukura tallied nine.
 
Mukura played her best game of the season so far, reaching new highs in kills, points (12) and blocks (six).
 
The Sharks were stellar from the service line, tallying 14 as a team. Smith and Jordan MacDonald each scored one, Melendez and Alasha Colon each scored three, and Selina Koç scored six, which included a stretch of four in a row.
 
Alasha Colon added to her NEC-leading mark in digs with 24 and Rumur Rouille added to her conference leading block total with five.
  
The Sharks play again next Friday when they travel to take on Le Moyne in Syracuse at 5 p.m.