LORETTO, Pa. (Sept. 20, 2008) – Service errors and other costly unforced errors cost the Saint Francis women's volleyball team in two matches on Saturday as the Red Flash lost a pair of matches, 3-0 against NJIT and 3-1 versus Columbia, at the 2008 Red Flash Invitational, which was held on Friday and Saturday at DeGol Arena.

Akron, Columbia and NJIT all finished 2-1 in the tournament, but the Zips of Akron won the tournament based on the tie-breaker of best game differential in head-to-head competition against the other 2-1 teams. The Red Flash were in most games on the weekend, but came up short of being able to win one of their three matches.

Akron setter Kara Smith was named the Tournament MVP, while outside hitters Jackie Goleman and Brionna Patterson also made the all-tournament team. NJIT libero Sabrina Baby and middle hitter Agneiszka Pregowska, and Columbia outside hitter Amalia Viti were also named to the all-tournament team.

Junior Shirley Miller (Fairless Hills, PA/Pennsbury) (Fairless Hills, Pa. / Pennsbury) had a team-high 15 kills to go with three service aces and 18 digs against the Lions.

 
Senior Kristin Buter (Bowie, MD/Bowie) (Bowie, Md. / Bowie) tallied 14 kills and 13 digs, and senior Lindsey Fox (Meadville, PA/Cochranton) (Meadville, Pa. / Cochranton) added 7 kills and a .455 hitting percentage on 11 swings.

Amalia Viti paced the Lions with a match-high 17 kills, 2 aces and 12 digs, Marisa Cornejo had 36 assists, and Martina Kajanova hit .316 with 7 kills and 8 digs.

After falling behind 6-2 in Game 1 against Columbia, the Red Flash bounced back to control the middle part of the first set. Junior Rikki Myers (Noblesville, IN/Westfield) (Noblesville, Ind. / Westfield) had a kill, and Buter knocked another kill off of the block to make it 6-4, but the Lions opened their lead back up to 9-5. However, kills by Fox and Buter along with a couple Columbia attack errors tied the match up at 9-9. After another tie at 10-10, Miller, Buter and Fox gave SFU a 13-10 lead with three straight kills. After holding a 17-15 lead, Saint Francis gave up six straight points to fall behind 21-17. Columbia led 22-18 when the Red Flash got four straight points off an attack error, a sophomore Rachel Capizzi (Saint Louis, Mo./Mehlville) (Saint Louis, Mo. / Mehlville) kill, and back-to-back Fox kills to tie
it up at 22-22. Megan Dillinger made it 23-22 on a kill and two straight ball-handling errors clinched it for the Lions at 25-22. Columbia's .220 hitting percentage, compared to SFU's .086, and 5 Red Flash service errors were the different in the set.

SFU once again fell behind early in Game 2 as Columbia held leads of 4-1 and 7-4, but then rallied to tie the game at 8-8 after an attack error and an ace by Miller. The match would then be tied again at 9-9, 10-10, 11-11 and 12-12, but Saint Francis was able to pull away behind a Columbia lift and hitting error, and a Capizzi kill to make it 17-14.

After a timeout, the Lions hit the ball into the net to give the Red Flash an 18-14 advantage. But Columbia again mounted a comeback.

Dillinger had a pair of kills sandwiched by two SFU hitting errors to tie the match at 18-18. The Lions continued with two more points on an ace and a Red Flash hitting error to complete a 6-0 run to make it 20-18. Saint Francis' Miller got her team back to 20-20 with back-to-back kills, and then the teams again found the match tied at 21-21 and 22-22. Viti eventually won the next serve after a long rally to give Columbia a brief 23-22 lead. But a service error tied the second set up at 23-23. Miller's next attack went off the block and out of bounds to force the Lions into a timeout with the Red Flash leading 24-23 and game point coming up. Buter clinched the match on a service ace to tie the match at 1-1 with a 25-23 SFU victory in Game 2. The Red
Flash outhit the Lions .162 to .128 in the game, and held their service errors to just 2.

Columbia again jumped out to an early lead in the third set. Sarah Thompson and Monique Roberts started the set with back-to-back kills, followed by a Buter kill off the block to make it 2-1 in favor of the Lions. But Columbia reeled off six straight points, which included two kills by Dillinger, to force SFU into a timeout with an 8-1 lead. Buter and senior Keshia Gibbs (Dumfries, VA/Forest Park) (Dumfries, Va. / Forest Park) came out of the break with back-to-back kills to cut it to 8-3, but the Lions again scored four straight points to go up 12-3. Miller posted another kill and Columbia hit the antenna with an attack to make it 12-5. The Lions would take a 10 point lead by winning the next three serves again, but SFU was able to take four of the next five points, thanks to a Myers ace and Miller kill, to pull within 16-9. A service error and a Cornejo kill made it 18-9 and Saint Francis called another timeout before the Lions
extended their lead to 10 points against at 21-11. The Red Flash wouldn't get any closer than eight points the rest of the way as
Columbia took Game 3, 25-16, and a 2-1 lead in the match. The Lions outhit SFU .367 to .107, and had two blocks against none.

After trading leads and ties through 3-3 in the fourth set, Columbia took advantage of two Red Flash errors and got an ace and a Martina Kajanova kill to jump out to a 7-3 lead. But despite the 2-1 lead in the match and the 7-3 deficit in Game 4, Saint Francis showed some heart by winning seven of the next eight points to take a 10-8 lead. But a service error and a Nicole Goldhaber kill tied it up at 10-10, sparking a back and forth battle over the next 20 serves. The match was again tied at 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 17 before Columbia forced SFU to call timeout by winning two serves to make it 19-17 Lions. Thompson put a kill on the tape to make it 20-17 Columbia, but a Gibbs kill off the block and a Miller service ace cut that lead to 20-19. After a Lions' timeout, Buter hit another blast off a block to tie the set up at 20-20.

Miller's second service ace gave the Red Flash a 21-20 lead and forced Columbia into another timeout. The Lions came out of the break with a kill by Allyson Werner to tie it back up at 21-21, and Dillinger gave them a 22-21 lead with a cross court kill. But following the theme of the game, Fox tied it up against at 22-22 with a kill that found the back left corner. A setting error by the Red Flash and a Viti kill set up match point for Columbia before a service error made it 24-23 and gave SFU hope. However, Viti's kill off the block clinched Game 4, 25-23, and the 3-1 match victory.

NJIT 3, Saint Francis 0 (25-22, 25-20, 26-24)

Saint Francis had a chance late in every set against NJIT, but fell just short in each one as the Red Flash dropped their second match of the 2008 Red Flash Invitational, 3-0, against the Highlanders.

SFU had senior Kristin Buter (Bowie, MD/Bowie) (Bowie, Md. / Bowie) and junior Shirley Miller (Fairless Hills, PA/Pennsbury) (Fairless Hills, Pa. / Pennsbury) with double-digit kills with 15 and 12, respectively. Miller also had 17 digs and 4 blocks, and Buter added 11 digs. The Highlanders failed to have a player reach double figures in kills, but they outhit SFU .129 to .114 and took advantage of 12 Red Flash service errors. Junior Rikki Myers (Noblesville, IN/Westfield) (Noblesville, Ind. / Westfield) had a match-high 26 assists.

Renata Pandolfo paced NJIT with 9 kills and a .250 hitting percentage on 28 swings to go with 5 blocks. Erica Schultz had 24 assists, and Sabrina Baby had 17 digs.

The Red Flash traded points with NJIT early in the first set, but fed off the play of Buter to take a 7- lead. However, the Highlanders rallied to tie the match at 7-7 and 10-10 before winning four of the next five points to take a 14-11 lead, and force SFU into a timeout.

Saint Francis came out of the timeout with kills by Miller and Buter, and then a double contact by NJIT, to pull even at 14-14. Following ties at 16-16, 17-17 and 18-18, the Highlanders won three straight points with a block and two kills to put the Red Flash on their heals at 21-18.

SFU would pull it to within two points on four different occasions, but wound up dropping Game 1, 25-22.

NJIT jumped out to a 2-0 lead in Game 2, but the Red Flash responded with three straight points to take their first lead of the set. Gibbs turned up her effort and had three kills in a matter of seconds to spark the Red Flash to their biggest lead of the game at 12-7 after a kill by Capizzi. However, the Highlanders came storming back behind the play of Pandolfo, who followed a Red Flash attack error with a two blocks and two kills to give her team a 15-13 lead and force SFU into a timeout.

But the Red Flash came out of the break with a kill to pull within 15-14. A Haeckel and Hornstein block, and a kill by Hughes put the Highlanders up 17-14. But a rally that resulted in four hits by NJIT pulled Saint Francis within two points that sparked a rally. The Red Flash forced two attack errors and took an 18-17 lead, but the Highlanders eventually took control with a Hughes kill, a net violation, another kill by Pandolfo, and a Red Flash attack error to take a commanding 23-19 lead. A kill by Hornstein and an ace by Pregowska clinched the set at 25-20 to give NJIT a 2-0 lead in the match.

Saint Francis fell behind early in Game 3, 12-6 and then 19-13, but showed a gutsy effort in coming all the way back to tie the set at 19-19 on a 6-0 run. Miller and Gibbs each had 2 kills and a block during the run. Both teams traded points, and tie scores until it was 24-24, but Hornstein and Hughes had back-to-back kills to give the Highlanders a 26-24 Game 3, and match, victory.

Akron hit .290 as a team and held Columbia to a -.030 hitting percentage in the morning's first match as the Zips defeated their Ivy
League opponent in three straight sets 25-16, 25-14, 25-12.

Jackie Goleman and Brionna Patterson both had 10 kills for Akron.

Goleman hit .500 for the match, and Kara Smith had 21 assists in playing just the first two games. Meryl Loop had 11 of her 13 assists in the third set. Tina Dimitrijevs had 6 kills and 3 blocks.

For the Lions, Colleen McNut had a team-high 6 kills, while Amalia Viti added 4 kills, an ace and 2 digs. Marisa Cornejo had 13 assists, 5 digs and an ace.

Set 1 started as a game of runs as Akron took advantage of several Lion errors to stake a 3-0 lead. But after a timeout, Columbia reeled off four of the next five points to tie the match at 4. The Zips then won six of the next eight points to jump out 10-6. After a long rally resulted in a Dimitrijevs kill and then a hitting error by the Lions made it 21-14. Columbia called timeout, but it didn't help as the Zips finished on a 10-4 run to win Game 1, 25-16. Goleman hit .625 in the game with 5 kills on 8 swings, and Smith had 10 assists.

Akron broke a 4-4 tie in Game 2 with a 6-1 run that was capped with a big left-handed swing from Patterson that gave her team a 10-5 advantage. The Lions were able to cut it to 12-10, but the Zips regained their composure and went on another run that forced Columbia to call a timeout after another Patterson kill made it 18-13. However, the Lions came out of the timeout and an immediate block by Simitrijevs and Smith forced Columbia to call another timeout. The Zips won the next two points out of the stoppaged to go up 22-13. O'Patchen wrapped up the game with a pair of kills to give Akron a 2-0 lead with a 25-14 Game 2
win. Smith had 11 more assists in the game. The Zips hit .227 in the game, but held the Lions to a -.156 hitting percentage.

After another 4-4 tie in Game 3, Dimitrijevs sparked a big Akron rally in which she had a block and two big kills to put her team up 12-5. The Lions, who had just 5 kills in the game, hit -.065 in the third set compared to the Zips' .478. Akron finished on a 5-0 run to take the third set 25-12, and the match 3-0.

NJIT 3, Akron 2 (25-23, 20-25, 17-25, 25-23, 15-12)

Down two games to one, and a large deficit, in Game 4 didn't deter the NJIT women's volleyball team in its final match of the 2008 Red Flash Invitational. Akron led a 17-10 lead slip away in Game 4, and eventually lost the match, 3-2, by scores of 25-23, 20-25, 17-25, 25-23, 15-12.

Four players finished in double digits with kills for the Highlanders.

Renata Pandolfo paved the way with 12 kills, 1 ace and 15 digs, while Agnieszka Pregowska and Kristy Haeckel had 11 kills each. Haeckel added five blocks, and Erica Schultz dished out 43 assists.

Akron was paced by Jackie Goleman with 14 kills and 6 blocks, while Courtney Jarvis had 13 kills, 2 aces and 13 digs, and Jess Antosz had 10 kills, 8 digs and 4 blocks. Kara Smith had 54 assists.

The Highlanders came out on fire in the first game against Akron, hitting .333 against the Zips' .258. After a 14-14 tie, NJIT slowly
built a four-point lead at 20-16. Akron was able to battle back to within 23-22 but, after an NJIT timeout, the Highlanders closed it out on an attack error to take Game 1, 25-23.

The Zips re-established their game plan in the second game, and slowly built a 12-6 lead. Akron led 18-12 when the Highlanders began to mount a comeback that brought them within 18-15. However, the zips reeled off four straight points after a timeout to move their lead to 22-15.

Courtney Jarvis tipped one over the defense to hit the back line and end it at 25-20 to tie the match at 1-1.

NJIT won the first two serves of Game 3, but the Zips controlled action the rest of the way. They came back to score the next five points for a 5-2 lead, which was capped by a pair of service aces by Smith. That lead would grow to 15-7 with another 7-3 run by Akron. The Highlanders would get that lead to as little as four on two different occasions, but the Zips' defense was too much in taking Game 3 for a 2-1 lead 25-17.

Akron appeared to be in total control of the match midway through the fourth game. With a two sets to one lead, the Zips jumped out to a comfortable 17-10 lead in the fourth game. However, a service error and several attack errors later, NJIT gained a 19-18 lead. Akron never led again and fell behind 23-20 only to come back to 23-22 before letting the Highlanders tie it up at 2-2 with 25-23 win in Game 4. Akron again led early in Game 5 by scores of 3-1 and 4-2, but NJIT bounced back to tie it at 4-4. There was also another tie at 6-6 before the Highlanders took the lead for good on a kill by Pandolfo.