LORETTO, Pa. (Sept. 19, 2008) – Senior Kristin Buter (Bowie, MD/Bowie) (Bowie, Md. / Bowie) had a match-high 14 kills to go with a .458 hitting percentage, but the Saint Francis women's volleyball team dropped its first contest of the 2008 Red Flash Invitational, 3-0, against MAC foe Akron on Friday night at DeGol Arena.
Buter had 12 of her 14 kills in the final two sets, and junior Rikki Myers (Noblesville, IN/Westfield) (Noblesville, Ind. / Westfield) dished out 25 assists as the Red Flash fell 25-22, 25-20, 25-22. Columbia came back from a 2-1 deficit to defeat NJIT, 3-2, in the opening match of the tournament.
The Red Flash Invitational wraps up with four matches on Saturday. Akron and Columbia will start things off at 11 a.m., followed by Saint Francis vs. NJIT at 1 p.m., NJIT vs. Akron at 3 p.m. and Saint Francis against Columbia at 5 p.m. The event is free to attend.
The Red Flash got off to a good start in Game 1 against the Zips, building 7-3 and 8-4 leads. However, Akron withstood the early momentum and Brittany Fox got her teammates rolling with a kill through the SFU block to make it 8-5. Saint Francis took a 10-7 lead after a solo block by senior Lindsey Fox (Meadville, PA/Cochranton) (Meadville, Pa. / Cochranton), only to see the Zips come back with four straight points to take their first lead at 11-10. The Red Flash won the next two points on a service error and an attack error to go up 12-11, but Akron's Jackie Goleman had two straight kills and a service ace gave the Zips a 14-12 lead they wouldn't relinquish. SFU would tie it up at 19-19 on a block by Fox and Myers, but would fall behind 23-21. Buter came up with a big kill to make it 23-22, but the Zips finished on a 6-3 run to take Game 1, 25-22. The Red Flash hit just .074 and had five service errors in Game 1.
A balanced attack by Akron and a .261 hitting percentage paced Akron in Game 2. Five Zips had at least 2 kills in the set. Saint Francis fell behind 4-1, but rallied to pull within 7-6 after an Akron tip went out of bounds. The Zips took an 11-6 by winning the next four serves, and SFU couldn't pull any closer than three points the rest of the way. Buter came alive with 5 kills in the set, while hitting .571.
Despite falling behind 2-0, Saint Francis wouldn't go quietly as it battled hard in the third set. The game included 10 ties and three lead changes with the last coming after the Red Flash took a 20-19 lead on a thunderous kill by Buter. However, a double contact by SFU tied the game up at 20, and Brionna Patterson and Kara Smith had back-to-back kills to put the Zips up 22-20. Saint Francis pulled to within one at 23-22, but Akron finished it off with a kill by Patterson and then an attack error to take the third set 25-22.
Patterson paced the Zips with 9 kills and a .538 hitting percentage, Smith dished out 33 assists, and Liz Martin and Goleman had 8 kills each. Goleman hit .467 and added 4 blocks.
Senior Keshia Gibbs (Dumfries, VA/Forest Park) (Dumfries, Va. / Forest Park) had 8 kills on just 10 swings to hit .700, and sophomore Rachel Capizzi (Saint Louis, Mo./Mehlville) (Saint Lous, Mo. / Mehlville) added 5 kills.
Columbia 3, NJIT 2 (25-17, 23-25, 20-25, 25-19, 15-10)
After a 1 hour, 29 minute delay in the first match of the 2008 Red Flash Invitational, Columbia bounced back from a 2-1 deficit to take the last two sets in a gutsy 3-2 victory over NJIT.
The Highlanders' bus from New Jersey was delayed due to heavy traffic, causing the match to start late. The Lions lost the first two sets, but used a dominating effort by Amalia Viti to take the last two games. Viti finished with 25 kills, a .270 hitting percentage , 2 service aces, 8 digs and 2 blocks. Sarah Thompson hit a scorching .538 with 8 kills and 7 blocks.
NJIT was led by four players with double-digit kills. Agnieszka Pregowska had a team-high 15 kills to go with 4 blocks, Kristy Haeckel chipped in with 14 kills and 3 digs, and Erica Schultz dished out 47 assists.
NJIT built an early 5-1 lead in Game 1, but Columbia then outscored the Highlanders 24-12 the rest of the way. The Lions battled back to tie the game at 8-8 and held a slim 19-17 advantage before winning the game's final six points to win it 25-17. Amalia Viti had a match-high 5 kills in the first game, while Monique Roberts and Allyson Werner added 3 each.
Game 2 was a back-and-forth affair that included 10 ties and five lead changes. Every tied and lead change came up to the point when it was 16-16. Agnieszka Pregowska put a kill past the Lions that gave NJIT a 17-16 lead. Three straight Columbia attack errors gave the Highlanders a 20-16 lead, and they held on to take Game 2, 25-23.
NJIT carried the momentum into Game 3, staking an early 5-3 lead on a pair of kills by both Kristy Haeckel and Juliana Araujo. But the Lions won three straight points to take their first lead at 6-5 as the two teams traded leads until an attack error by Columbia gave NJIT the lead for good at 10-9. Pregowska's kill made it 22-16 to open the biggest lead of the match, and Highlanders took a 2-1 lead in the match with a 25-20 victory in the third set.
NJIT appeared to be taking control of what could have been a match-clinching Game 4 when it turned a 15-15 tie into an 18-15. However, the Lions regained their focus after the timeout and won five straight serves and outscored the Highlanders 10-1 the rest of the way to take the fourth set, 25-19.
Columbia jumped out to early 3-0 and 4-1 leads in the deciding game, but a kill by Araujo made it 4-2 and sparked a four-point rally that gave NJIT a 5-4 lead. However, the Lions went on a 7-1 run to take a commanding 11-6 lead in the first-to-15 set. Sarah Thompson closed out the match with a kill down the right side to clinch the 3-2 victory for Columbia in the 15-10 fifth set.
