Saint Francis Claws Back from 2-0, but Can't Capitalize in Tie-Breaker
(20-30, 21-30, 30-27, 30-25, 11-15)
Loretto, Pa. – Saint Francis stood tall in the face of the 10th ranked Mastodons of Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne representing the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association, going the distance with the 2007 NCAA National Championship Runners-up. Alas, the Red Flash were nudged by IPFW, 3-2 (20-30, 21-30, 30-27, 30-25, 11-15), after coming back from a 2-0 deficit in the early marks of Friday’s stint.
Sophomore swinger Nick Rivett (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel) turned in an incredible effort, pacing Saint Francis with 18 kills on 43 attempts. Rivett also mixed in seven digs and three blocking assists. Sophomore outside hitter Jordan Varee (Meadville, Pa./Conneaut Valley) persisted on with his marvelous 2008 campaign with 16 kills, two service aces and six digs. Sophomore outside hitter Dave Reilly (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury) recorded 14 kills on 30 swats in addition to one ace, five digs and four blocking assists. Sophomore middle hitter Pete Freyer (Orchard Park, N.Y./Orchard Park) played well, pitching in with seven kills and one ace. Freyer acted as a barricade at the net with one solo block and seven assists. Sophomore middle hitter Patrick McManamon (Huntingdon, Pa./Huntingdon) attacked at a pace of .500 (five kills on eight attempts with one error). McManamon dug one ball and tallied three blocking assists.
Sophomore Markus Schulze (Berlin, Germany/Anne-Frank) looked like he was trying to plant a garden with his 13 defensive digs in the Flash’s tenth tilt of the season, leading all participants. Junior setter Shane Conley (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) supported SFU with 49 sets, two kills, three digs and three blocking assists.
“I am extremely proud of how our boys came out tonight. They knew tonight was going to be a hard fought battle, but both myself and the team knew we had a chance to claim victory. A few balls bounced their way and unfortunately we couldn’t finish off a very worthy opponent. If we can keep this sort of momentum tomorrow night against Loyola, I think we have a good shot at splitting this weekend’s home stand”, Saint Francis head coach Mike Rumbaugh offered after the contest.
Overall, Saint Francis lagged behind the Mastodons in all major statistical categories, albeit not by much, in kills (62-65), attacking accuracy (.243-.346), aces (4-8), digs (36-38) and total blocks (11-12).
The ‘Dons started off with a sturdy spike and a stuff to open up Friday evening’s non-conference match-up to earn the 2-0 advantage. Despite McManamon placing the Flash’s first point on the board with a nice whack, IPFW responded quickly. Reilly countered with a rocket right at the Mastodons libero. Varee piped an ace through the ‘Dons defense to knot the game at 4-4. IPFW’s C.J. Macias busted the tie by going over the top of McManamon and Conley. Freyer lasered the leather at IPFW, as the ‘Dons outside hitter found his swing too hard to handle, but IPFW retained their 7-5 lead. Reilly notched the next point and IPFW went wide on their following attack to redraw the game to 7-7. Rivett stepped up for a ferocious attack at IPFW, but the ‘Dons answered with a kill of their own to move the game to 12-10 in favor of the Mastodons. IPFW produced another point after a serve that confused SFU’s middle line, leading to three more consecutive points in favor of the ‘Dons. Saint Francis head coach Mike Rumbaugh called for the first time out of the match to regroup with the board reading 16-11 in favor of their opponent. Varee’s lengthy swat gave the ‘Dons a six-point. C.J. Macias and Oliver Kook blocked SFU’s next attempt. Varee chipped DeGol’s court with his cunning kill to cut into the ‘Dons eight-point lead. Reilly altered the deficit to six, but IPFW’s Brock Ullrich pushed game one further out of the Flash’s reach with two consecutive services aces, lighting up the score for a 26-18 tally. Oliver Kook followed up an SFU error to come within two points of a game one victory. C.J. Macias finished off game one with a blistering ace after Freyer inadvertently pushed one into the net. IPFW took down game one with a 30-20 count. Reilly led the way for the Flash, hitting for .375 (five kills one eight attempts). The Mastodons outhit the Flash .562 to .074 in addition to four aces. The Flash registered one.
IPFW’s Oliver Kook initiated game two with yet another ace, but pushed his next attempt long. The ‘Dons’ Jason Yhost smashed a kill, but Reilly kept it a 2-2 dead heat with a successful attack of his own. IPFW’s Graydon Ainsworth benefited off of a return error from sophomore Markus Schulze (Berlin, Germany/Anne-Frank) pursued by a C.J. Macias kill to put the ‘Dons up 7-5. Macias mimicked his preceding play, and Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne rattled off the next three points. Rumbaugh rallied his troops during game two’s first timeout as the Mastodons slyly held a five-point advantage, 12-7. Brock Ullrigh shrugged off the break and beat the Flash on his next swing. SFU gained two points from a couple IPFW errors, but the ‘Dons stayed put when an SFU block fell wide to the right. The Mastodons Josh Stewart tallied a block, extending the lead to 17-9. After an additional kill for IPFW, Rumbaugh utilized his final timeout of game two after he saw the Mastodons were doubling up his squad, 18-9. Freyer earned SFU’s first point in numerous volleys, making it a 20-11 affair. The Flash scored on double contact from IPFW, turning the momentum for SFU as Freyer countered on an ace and McManamon and Reilly bonded together for a block. Varee notched one of his renowned spikes, forcing Mastodons’ coach Arnie Ball to employ his first timeout of the match as the score read 21-16 in favor of IPFW. After the break, both teams traded points and then the Flash benefited from an IPFW net violation. The Flash and the ‘Dons puffed up their chests, smacking kills at each other’s defense in the waning moments, but IPFW finally claimed game two, concluding on a service error from Rivett. Saint Francis netted only eight kills to the Mastodons 17. Despite being outdug 13 to nine, Saint Francis turned away three IPFW attacks to their two. The ‘Dons attacked at a clip of .375 compared to SFU’s .103.
The Mastodons Jason Yhost blasted his swing a tad wide to hand the Flash the very early lead, but the ‘Dons defied that point with a valiant kill. The Flash turned out the next three points, as Rivett tooled out the ball into the. The Flash held their largest lead of the match at 7-3 after IPFW created another error and Freyer accomplished his third kill of the night. The Mastodons’ Kook cut into the lead, making it an 8-6 affair followed by a Varee attacking error. Although Kook brought the game to within a single point, Reilly continued his hard fought night with a counter of his own. Reilly persisted onward with an ace, but IPFW earned a point as the score read 12-11 in favor of the Flash. Rivett indented the ball with a huge kill, but McManamon turned the serve back to the ‘Dons. Freyer and Conley generated a double stoic block, allowing the Flash to move out to a 17-13 lead. A misread by Jason Yhost extended the Flash’s lead by five. Freyer’s errant dish brought IPFW within two, 19-17. IPFW’s Dan Mcnerney registered another Mastodons point and Rumbaugh stopped the game for the first breather of game three as the Mastodons crept within one point after the Flash held a five point advantage. McManamon crawled up the mesh after smoked one through IPFW’s protection, but Conley could not capitalize as the ‘Dons made game three an even count, 20-20. IPFW then took over the lead for the first time in game three after a net violation. After a couple volleys, Varee netted a Flash point, keeping the score level at 22-22. Rivett nudged the Flash out to a 24-23 lead after nearly embedding the ball in the court, but IPFW was not intimidated and scored on the next two plays coming off of a kill and a block. The Flash recaptured the lead through a couple heads-up plays, 27-26, giving way to Arnie Ball’s second timeout of the match. Ball’s breather led Reilly to score, but the ‘Dons had an answer. Varee prodded the Flash to game point, 29-27, and McManamon finished off the ‘Dons, 30-27 on a notable swat. In spite of the stats being almost identical, the Flash’s attacking rate finally bettered IPFW, .371 to .257, with Reilly leading the way as he did in game one with five kills.
Saint Francis scored first again on a wayward IPFW blocking attempt, but the Mastodons scored on the following play. Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne’s Graydon Ainsworth jabbed the ‘Dons out to a 4-2 lead on a big hit, but Rivett and Freyer rallied together after a back-and-forth volley and earned SFU’s seventh block. The Flash drew it to a 5-5 deadlock on a Rivett tally, but IPFW quickly made it 7-6. C.J. Macias mistakenly batted the ball into his own side of the mesh and the Flash then took back the lead, 9-7, forcing Coach Ball to take a break. The Mastodons profited from the breather, turning game four into yet another tie, 9-9. After twelve plays, the game remained tied at 14-14 with each team scoring respectively, but the ‘Dons scored the next two points after the head-jerking battle, as the scoreboard churned out a display of 17-15. After a few kills and errors mixed in on both sides, Varee brought game four back to a tie, 20-20, with a service ace that slinked over the net. Saint Francis handed IPFW a two point lead through a couple errors, but a Rivett kill and an IPFW net violation continued the trend of ties, 23-23. McManamon and Conley stuffed IPFW, and as the crowd got loud, McManamon and Reilly duplicated the play. Another IPFW error turned game four into a 27-24 count in favor of Saint Francis. Mastodons’ coach Arnie Ball cashed in his final timeout of game four after C.J. Macias missed a dig in an attempt to keep the play alive. After the break, the Mastodons scored on a ferocious spike, but McManamon slipped one by the ‘Dons. Rivett created a sonic boom in the air and in the stands after eradicating IPFW in game four, 30-25. Rivett led all attackers with six kills on 12 attempts as the Flash finished with a .294 attacking tempo. IPFW registered a rate of .167 (12 kills on 30 attempts).
The final game started off with a nerve-racking volley, but IPFW ended up on top of the first play. The ‘Dons notched the next two points, but Varee tallied SFU’s first point in the tiebreaker on a big kill. IPFW went wide on the following play, but Saint Francis’ block attempt went wide to maintain the ‘Dons two point lead, 4-2. IPFW’s Josh Stewart blistered a kill through the Flash, but Varee scored his second point with a countering kill. McManamon missed on the serve and IPFW kept the lead, 6-3, in game five. Freyer pulverized the next ball, but the Flash committed two errors, letting the ‘Dons have an 8-4 advantage. Conley then dumped one over the lattice, rattling IPFW on the next play as they went wide. The Mastodons went out-of-bounds on their following two attacks, but the Flash couldn’t handle IPFW’s next kill, as the count read 11-8 supporting the ‘Dons. Both teams bartered points, but Varee cut it to two with a vivacious swat, 12-10. McManamon blundered when it came time for him to serve, and Coach Rumbaugh called for a timeout as IPFW needed just two more counts to claim the hard-fought match. IPFW and SFU scored on an error from Freyer and a kill from Varee, respectively, but the Mastodons claimed the resilient match after a receiving error from Varee.
Saint Francis (5-5) dips back down to .500 after dropping an extremely entertaining match to the 10th ranked Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons. If Saint Francis pulled off the upset, it would have marked the first time in SFU history the Flash knocked off a top-ten opponent. The Red Flash have their chance to knock off another ranked opponent tomorrow night at DeGol Arena when they take on the Ramblers of Loyola University (Chicago) who are currently ranked 14th. Game time is set for 9:00pm on Saturday, February 9th.