Mar. 11, 2009
Red Flash Return To DeGol Arena Successful Over Quincy
LORETTO, Pa. – Playing in the friendly confines of DeGol Arena for the first time in over a month, the Saint Francis men’s volleyball team won its second straight match, 3-0, over visiting Quincy on Wednesday night.
The Red Flash went 2-5 on a recent seven-match road swing, but ended road trip with a big win over EIVA Tait rival George Mason. SFU looked sharp in its return to DeGol Arena, hitting .369 in a 30-22, 30-21, 30-27 victory. The Red Flash, who are now 9-8, will be back in action 4 p.m. Saturday when Mount Olive visits for another non-conference match.
Junior Nick Rivett (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Fox Chapel) pace Saint Francis with 10 kills, a .474 hitting percentage, two aces, four digs and two blocks, freshman setter Ryan Williams (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Montour) took over in the second set and finished with 20 assists, and junior Pete Freyer (Orchard Park, N.Y. / Orchard Park) hit .600 with seven kills, four aces and three blocks.
Robbie Coughlin led Quincy with 14 kills.
Saint Francis used a 9-3 run to turn a 9-7 deficit into a 16-12 lead, forcing Quincy into a timeout in the first set. The Red Flash won the first three serves out of the timeout to take a 19-12 edge, and never looked back in securing a 30-22 win in Game 1. SFU hit .500 and Freyer had three aces to lead the way.
The Red Flash jumped out to a 9-3 lead in the second set, and were never seriously threatened in a 30-21 win. Quincy pulled to within 14-10, but SFU used a 5-0 run to pull away. The Flash held a .390 to .115 advantage in hitting percentage, and had 4.0 blocks in the set.
The Saint Francis reserves got quality playing time in the third set, and won a back-and-forth battle, 30-27. Quincy led most of the way, and had a 6-1 edge early on. However, the Red Flash chipped away and finally tied the match at 17-17 on a block by freshman John Skarupa (Pittsburgh, Pa. / North Allegheny) and junior Tyler Mattera (Conneautville, Pa. / Conneaut Valley). Saint Francis finally took its first lead, 24-23, on an attack error by Quincy, and never trailed again. Mattera finished the match off with back-to-back kills to clinch the victory with a 30-27 win in the third set.