Princeton, N.J. – Saint Francis University ended up splitting the regular season series (1-1) with the Princeton Tigers after dropping a highly contested 3-1 decision at Dillon Gym in Friday evening's Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Tait Division battle. SFU's encounter with the Tigers marked the Flash's fifth straight conference game. The spikers' second consecutive loss comes after rattling off three straight victories in mid-February.
Sophomore outside hitter Jordan Varee (Meadville, Pa./Conneaut Valley) prolonged his season of barraging his opponent with kills, finishing with a team-high 18 on 46 attempts. Varee also tallied one ace, nine digs and seven blocking assists. Sophomore outside hitter Nick Rivett (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel) performed in a similar fashion as his teammate, accumulating 17 kills on 53 swings along with an ace, an assist, five scoops and six helpers in stuffs. Sophomore outside hitter Dave Reilly (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury) contributed 12 kills off of 26 stabs. Reilly also had three digs and played a role in two blocks. Sophomore middle hitter Pete Freyer's (Orchard Park, N.Y./Orchard Park) precision shined through in Friday's match once again, notching nine kills on 13 blasts for a clip of .538. Freyer also included three digs and two blocking assists to his statistical output. Patrick McManamon (Huntingdon, Pa./Huntingdon) had 7 kills on 16 tries with an ace and two digs. McManamon topped all defenders with 10 blocking assists.
Junior setter Shane Conley (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) had his hands full, attempting 125 assists and converting on 53 of them. Conley also added a team-high 10 digs and three blocking assists. Sophomore libero Markus Schulze (Berlin, Germany/Anne-Frank) supplied an ace and nine digs for the Flash's efforts.
”Princeton is a team that will force you to play at your highest level for 100% of the game,” SFU head coach Mike Rumbaugh added. “Although a win tonight would've have been a nice rebound after Penn State and a long break, we must hold sight of NJIT tomorrow night. They've been playing well. A split this weekend is certainly a must to obtain one of the top four seeds in EIVA tournament.”
Saint Francis was slighted in the kills section of game one, 22-19, but the accuracy of the Red Flash attack was crucial in jumping out the early 1-0 advantage. The Flash combined for a total of 19 kills on 33 attempts (.545) with just one error. The Tigers attempted 41 kills at a rate of .293. The Flash surrendered the lead only twice in game one, being on top by as many as five at one point, but the Tigers pushed game one into a couple extra rallies. Saint Francis maintained their composure with a 33-31 win.
The Tigers locked down and played great team ball the rest of the match, taking the Flash down in three consecutive frames, 30-24, 30-27 and 30-27. Princeton's Peter Eichler led all participants with 22 total kills down the stretch. The Tigers outhit the Flash .393 to .125 in game two and .289 to .150 in game three. Saint Francis finished with an attacking clip of .204 to the Tigers' percentage of .190, despite losing the final stanza.
Saint Francis drops to 9-8 on the season, but steadfastly clings onto a 5-3 EIVA Tait Division record. The Flash will remain in New Jersey and take on the Highlanders of New Jersey Institute of Technology tomorrow night, Saturday, Match 9 at 7:00pm. The Flash need to rebound from their two loses to retain a guaranteed bye into the quarterfinals of the EIVA tournament starting on April 16.
