Loretto, Pa. – Saint Francis rattled off their second consecutive Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Tait Division match-up after defeating the Princeton Tigers 3-1 (30-25, 30-23, 27-30, 30-24) in Friday night's showdown.
“Princeton is a team I have a lot respect for; a team I have always had trouble with in the past,” Saint Francis head coach Mike Rumbaugh submitted. “Tonight's back-and-forth pace really could have ended up going either way. We missed a few digs here and there, but Princeton reciprocated by almost doubling us in attacking errors. In the end, I'm extremely pleased with how we performed offensively; yet we must retain out focus for Monday's match against East Stroudsburg.”
Sophomore outside hitter Jordan Varee (Meadville, Pa./Conneaut Valley) managed the game, leading all hitters with 20 kills on 42 attempts (.381) and one ace. Sophomore outside hitter Nick Rivett (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel) offered up his services for another sound performance of 19 kills on 40 swings (.375). Rivett played heads-up ball on both sides by piloting the Flash with 11 digs. He also threw down a service ace. Sophomore outside hitter Dave Reilly (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury) accurately attacked 15 times on 24 swings (.500). Reilly also scorched the most service aces (2) for Saint Francis, tallied eight digs and two blocking helpers. Sophomore middle hitter Pete Freyer (Orchard Park, N.Y./Orchard Park) seemed to come through in the right moments of Friday's match, finishing with six kills on nine tries (.444), one dig and one solo stuff. Sophomore middle hitter Patrick McManamon (Huntingdon, Pa./Huntingdon) notched four kills on nine swings (.222), one ace and five blocking assists; three of which came right in a row in the crucial moments of game four when his team was trailing.
Sophomore libero Markus Schulze (Berlin, Germany/Anne-Frank) chipped in for five digs and set sets while his counterpart, junior setter Shane Conley (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny), lead all participants with 56 sets. Conley also chalked up three kills on 10 attempts, six digs, one solo block and one blocking assist.
Saint Francis outhit the Tigers .373 to .221 (67-134 / 60-131). The Tigers outdid the Flash in defensively, though, tallying 41 digs to SFU's 33. Each team put forth seven total team blocks. The biggest discrepancy amongst games in attacking average came in game two when the Flash pounced on the Tigers, .517 to .217.
After the match commenced with an extra long try from the Tigers, Princeton's Jeff McCown countered off Reilly's extended right arm. The first ace of the game came off of Peter Eichler's serve, but Rivett's snatched back a point of his own. After a Princeton point, Freyer swatted a score to knot the game at 3-3. The points continued to be passed around in the early moments of game one after Conley slapped one to the opposite side of the court for another Flash tally. The game was moved to a 9-9 thanks to a few errors bartered back and forth in mid moments, but McManamon and Freyer pulled two down consecutive points before Princeton charged back to tie the game. Rivett's three precise attacks baffled the Tigers' defense in the last four plays, turning the initial frame into a two-point lead. Rivett added on with SFU's first ace of the match directly after. Glenn Nelson, Princeton's head coach, called a timeout after his outside bashed one into the antenna as the score conveyed a 15-11 count. Conley pilfered another point off an outstretched Tiger, but Rivett turned the serve over to Princeton after he missed on his swing. The Tigers tallied an error and a kill before finding Reilly's swings too stifling. Conley's serve gave a point to Princeton, but McManamon and Varee lit up the board defensively with a dual block. Rivett then put up another kill following a Princeton attack. Varee snatched away another Princeton tally with a sturdy swat as the board read 21-18 in favor of the Flash. Varee followed his own footsteps with another kill that lead into an attacking error on Princeton's side, handing the Flash a five-point advantage. Varee made it three in a row before Princeton's Philip Rosenberg bounced one off of Rivett's dig attempt. Reilly put up SFU's 25th point right off the sideline, but Princeton rattled off the next five of six points before Rumbaugh hailed for the Red Flash's first timeout of the match. Varee busted up Princeton's hopes of continuing their momentum as his buddy Rivett followed suit to put SFU up four. Princeton tallied on the next play, but the net stopped Peter Eichler's attempt at a soft kill. The Tigers' Ka'ohu Berg-Hee mishandled McManamon's tricky serve as the Flash claimed the opening stanza, 30-25. Rivett held onto his strong play from Wednesday's match against Juniata and let the Flash with a fine attacking rate of .455 (six kills on 11 swings). Varee and Reilly netted four apiece. Reilly had only five attempts for a rate of .800. The Tigers defensively outdid the Flash with 15 digs to SFU's eight.
Each team handed each other a point on errors in the first three plays before McManamon tallied the first point of game two in the corner pocket of the left side of the pitch. The Tigers drew the game at 3-3, but Saint Francis scored on yet another Princeton blocking error. Freyer tallied Saint Francis' second block on the match, but McManamon's serve swerved wide on the following play. Reilly poked the yellow line to return the Flash to a two-point lead, but Varee missed SFU's second serve in a row as the score read 6-5, Saint Francis. Princeton carried out the same as Varee and McManamon but two stifling kills from the Tigers kept the match even at 7-7. Saint Francis gave the Tigers their first lead of the game with two consecutive errors but Varee got the Flash back on track with a big bash. Jeff McCown showed Varee what he was made of, but Rivett piggy backed off of Varee's athleticism and utilized the net for a big point. Princeton threw one down SFU's side to hold onto their two-point lead, but Rivett erased the lead with two uninterrupted points. Reilly recaptured the lead with an ace but missed on his next serve. Game two's head-turning score had another tie at 13-13, but Reilly got superstitious and broke the 13-13 tie with a swift kill. After a Princeton score, Varee tipped one where no Tigers loomed, but Mike Vincent locked back up the score at 15-15. A Princeton error and a Varee kill put the Flash back up two, but a Princeton block quickly eradicated the two-point lead. Freyer smash demolished the leather up the right side as Princeton chased Freyer's tally with two errors, pushing the score to 20-16, SFU. Peter Eichler busted Princeton's cold streak, but Saint Francis countered with a Reilly point. The Tigers errantly attacked on the next play, as SFU jumped out to their largest lead of game two, 22-17. Each team traded points, but Philip Rosenberg missed his second serve in a row. Princeton knocked another ball wide as Saint Francis extended their stranglehold by six. Princeton whipped up two successive kills, but Rivett snuck one through the Tigers' den with the count now set at 26-21. After a Princeton tally, Rivett and Reilly teamed up for points if their own, but Rivett mishit his following serve, carving out a 28-23 score. After Princeton put one into the back of the mesh, Varee finished off the Tigers in game two, 30-23, with crowd-raising rip. Varee also led all attackers in game two with six kills on 10 attempts. Rivett put forth five and Reilly painted four on the board in the second frame. Saint Francis responded from game one's defensive draught and outdug the Tigers 8-6.
Friday's third game open began with two kills from Princeton and three errors as Princeton nudged out early, 3-2. Princeton's Jeff McCown notched another kill but sent back that point with an errant serve. Freyer and Reilly's block attempt went wide on the following play. Freyer and Conley tried to respond in the same fashion but the same results came forth. Rivett sprung up for a laser-like kill, with a Princeton error to follow. The Tigers came back as a triple block attempt fell down to SFU's side, but Varee piped one off the Tiger's outside hitter to trail by one. Conley tied the game with a big block and the Flash recaptured the lead with a wayward swing from Peter Eichler. Princeton attained the next three points, but Varee picture-perfectly rammed one through the Tigers' defense. Princeton University retaliated, but McManamon kept the Flash in it by just one point. Princeton tallied on a tipped ball from the Flash, yet Rivett found his niche in Princeton territory but pushing the count to 12-11 in favor of Princeton. PU scored on a Freyer blocking error, but he quickly redeemed himself with a significant swat. Game three was back to neck-and-neck at 14-14, but Rivett turned the tie into a one-point advantage on an off-target serve. Princeton scored again, but Rivett pinched the corner of the court to defy Princeton's defense. Each team scored on the next two plays, but Reilly tied game three at 17-17 with a whimsical whack. The Tigers registered the next two points, but Brandon Denham missed his serve. Reilly did the same as Princeton continued to maintain a two-point lead. The third consecutive service error gave way to a game-tying kill from Freyer. Varee busted a 21-21 tie with his first ace of the match, but mike Vincent zipped game three back to a 22-22 dead heat. After two points exchanged hands, Princeton cranked out the next three scores. The Tigers missed on their serve, but Varee missed a dig and Princeton claimed a three-point lead, 27-24. Rivett pushed one long and Rumbaugh called the first timeout of game three with his team down 28-24. Reilly cranked out a kill and Princeton erred on their next two attempts, but SFU dropped the third game, 30-27, after Varee missed his attack.
A blocking blunder from Princeton kick-started game four, but Conley served one into the net to move it to 1-1. Varee snapped the early tie with a beautiful boom and Philip Rosenberg followed up with an attack twice as long as the court. Tigers' Jeff McCown ripped a kill off of Varee's fist, but Varee shook it off and smoked one right back. Freyer rifled the leather through Princeton's territory but McManamon lost the serve. Peter Eichler missed on his swing as Varee miscalculated his first serve of game four. Princeton's attempt at stopping Conley fell wide as the Flash moved out to a 7-4 advantage. The Tigers crashed the net for the next seven of eight points to seize the lead, 11-8, but Conley and McManamon tried to calm down the Tigers with a dual block. Princeton's tenacious play lead Rumbaugh to call for a breather with his team pursuing Princeton's three-point lead, 13-10. Rumbaugh's timeout let Princeton catch their breath, as well, as they moved out to a 16-13 stretch in game four. Rivett erased Mike Vincent's block on Freyer with a big kill. Varee reenergized the crowd with a sonic boom through the Tigers defense. Princeton then pushed one out of bounds but hurriedly threw up a kill thanks to Vincent. Rivett detonated the floor with another SFU kill and McManamon and Reilly joined forced for a block party to close the gap at 19-19. McManamon invited Varee to the block party on the next play to regain the lead after being down most of game four. McManamon and Reilly blocked Princeton's third successive attempt as Nelson called for a timeout with his team down two, 21-19. After the pause, both teams tallied on their respective serves, but Princeton allowed the Flash to stay up by two as Rosenberg went long on his swing. Jeff McCown whiffed on his effort and Saint Francis extended their lead by four. Reilly lathered on a service to push Princeton down even further. Following Reilly's error, Princeton cemented a powerful block, but Varee moved SFU closer to victory with a nice swing. Mike Vincent's jaw-dropping kill was erased with a Princeton service error. Varee returned the favor, but Rivett's torrent tear lit the board for a Flash tally. Varee almost removed one of Princeton's limbs on the following play, 29-24. Varee's next attempt was blocked, but it fell wide and the Flash claimed victory in four games. Varee paced Saint Francis with seven kills on 14 attempts with just on error. McManamon put down four blocking assists as both teams finished tied in that department with seven total on the evening.
The Red Flash dash back to 7-6 on the season after rattling off two consecutive wins over conference foes. The spikers will try and make it three in a row when they host Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Tait Division rival East Stroudsburg. Game time is set for 7:00pm at DeGol Arena on Monday, February 18.
