Five Red Flash Players Honored by EIVA
LORETTO, Pa. (April 23, 2009) – Saint Francis volleyball players Nick Rivett (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel) and Jordan Varee (Conneautville Pa./Conneaut Valley) have been named to the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association’s All-East First team, while Shane Conley (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) earned EIVA All-East Second Team honors as announced by the league on Wednesday.
Alex Fortney (York, Pa./Central York) and Patrick McManamon (Huntingdon, Pa./Huntingdon) were named to the 2009 EIVA All-Academic Team.
"It's an honor to have five out of our six starters recognized by the league," said head coach Mike Rumbaugh. "Obviously the effort of the team as whole has gotten us this far, but these guys have lead that effort all season. I'm incredibly proud of them."
Varee, a junior opposite, led the team in kills throughout the regular season with 552, shattering his own single-season school record of 430 set in 2008. Varee also set a new program career record in the category, with 1,321 kills in his career thus far and leads the EIVA with 5.36 per game. He also had 37 aces in the regular season, and sits second on SFU’s single-season aces list and holds the program’s career aces mark with 95.
Outside hitter Rivett, a junior on the squad, is second on the team with 380 kills in 2009, and ranks third all time with 1,004 in his career. His 176 digs this season is second only to Varee, and rank fifth on the school’s single-season digs list.
Conley, the team’s lone senior, will depart Saint Francis as the all-time assists leader with a total of 4,368 set assists in his career heading into Saturday’s EIVA quarterfinals. He leads the team this season with 1,209, and appears on the single-season assists’ list four times. He ranks sixth in the league with 11.47 assists per game. Conley also ranks third on the all-time blocks list with 294 after making 75 blocks this season.
Junior setter Fortney is fourth on the team with 167 kills this season and also has 23 service aces. Fortney has also made 33 blocks and 117 digs in 2009. An accounting major, he currently holds a 3.57 grade point average.
McManamon, a junior middle, is second on the team with 97 blocks in the regular season, ranking sixth on the single-season blocks list. His 207 career blocks rank fourth in school history. McManamon has earned a 3.50 GPA as a chemistry major at Saint Francis.
The Red Flash will take on Princeton University in the quarterfinals of the EIVA Tournament on Saturday. Game time is set for 7 p.m. at DeGol Arena. Tickets are $5 for adults and $2 for children.