LORETTO, Pa. (Jan. 27, 2008) – Saint Francis University junior setter Shane Conley (Pittsburgh, Pa. / North Allegheny) kept dishing the ball to the hot hand, and the kills kept coming. Sophomore outside hitter Jordan Varee (Meadville, Pa. / Conneaut Valley) broke three school records to lead the Red Flash to a highly entertaining 3-2 victory over visiting Mount Olive on Sunday afternoon at DeGol Arena.
Varee broke the single-match school records with 33 kills, 59 total attacks and 38.5 points in Saint Francis' 27-30, 30-19, 23-30, 30-24, 15-13 victory over the Trojans. He also added 4 blocks, 3 service aces and 8 digs while hitting .458.
Conley served up a season-high 56 assists in the match and added 2 service aces and 3 blocks to help the Red Flash win their second straight match to improve to 3-4 overall.
Saint Francis will now prepare for 12th-ranked George Mason, which visits DeGol Arena at 7 p.m. Friday for the fourth match in an 11-match homestand for the Red Flash.
Also for SFU, sophomore Nick Rivett (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Fox Chapel) tallied 16 kills, 4 digs and 7 blocks, sophomore Pete Freyer (Orchard Park, N.Y. / Orchard Park) had 6 kills, 2 aces and 9 blocks, and sophomore Dave Reilly (Yardley, Pa. / Pennsbury) added 8 kills, 3 blocks and an ace.
Osvaldo Perez paced Mount Olive with 19 kills, while Jose Lanier added 15 kills, 4 aces and 3 blocks. Zach Wilson dished out 54 assists.
Varee broke former Saint Francis all-American Marc Honore's school record for kills (29) and points (35.0).
Even though the match went five games, the team's did not have a tie or lead change until Game 4. Mount Olive led from start to finish in Game 1, which it won 30-27. Saint Francis returned the favor in a 30-19 Game 2 victory, and the Trojans led the entire way in a 30-23 Game 3 win.
However, it began to go back and forth right from the start of the fourth game. There were ties on every other serve until the Red Flash took an 8-6 edge. But Mount Olive won the next two serves to tie it again. After another tie at 13-13, the Trojans jumped out to 23-20 lead. But the Red Flash won the next six points, thanks to three kills by Varee, to take a 26-23 lead. Varee had five kills during Saint Francis' 10-1 run to close out the game and force a decisive fifth game with a 30-24 win.
The team's traded points through a 6-6 tie in Game 5, but a Varee kill and a Mount Olive attack error gave the Red Flash an 8-6 lead. SFU kept a slight edge before taking a 12-9 lead in the first-to-15, winner-takes-all game. However, three straight attack errors by the Red Flash gave the lead, 13-12, right back to the Trojans. SFU head coach Mike Rumbaugh called a timeout to ice Mount Olive, and Freyer came down with a big kill to tie the game at 13-13.
Rivett then came down with a huge kill to give the Red Flash a 14-13 lead and a chance at match point, but it was Reilly who set it up with a diving dig to keep the Trojans from gaining the advantage. Freyer and Rivett clinched the match with a block that fell on Mount Olives side of the court.
