LORETTO, Pa. – The Saint Francis men's volleyball team rallied from a 2-0 hole to force Game 5, but fell short in its upset attempt against 14th-ranked Ohio State on Sunday afternoon at DeGol Arena.
After defeating No. 13 Ball State on Saturday, the Red Flash suffered their first defeat of the season 20-30, 31-33, 30-28, 30-26, 12-15 against the Buckeyes. Saint Francis, which is 3-1 on the season, will play host to defending national champion and No. 1 Penn State at 7 p.m. on Friday night, at DeGol Arena.
Juniors Nick Rivett (Pittsburgh, PA/Fox Chapel) (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Fox Chapel) and Jordan Varee (Conneautville, PA/Conneaut Valley) (Conneautville, Pa. / Conneaut Valley) had 26 kills each for SFU, while senior setter Shane Conley (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) (Pittsburgh, Pa. / North Allegheny) dished out a season high 64 assists. The Red Flash outhit and out-blocked the Buckeyes, but fell short in the match.
Four players posted double digit kills for Ohio State (2-4), led by Robbie Klein with 21. Ted Schoenfeldt had 16 kills, Kevin Heine posted 15 kills and Ben Spurlock added 13 kills, while Steven Kehoe had 69 assists.
The Red Flash started out sloppily in set one and fell behind early, 5-1. They fell behind 12-8, but battled back within two points behind a Rivett kill and an ace. However, the Buckeyes used a 7-2 run to build a 19-12 cushion and never looked back in taking set one, 30-20. Ohio State hit .385 and held SFU to .071 for the first set.
The Red Flash started set two, which included 11 ties and three lead changes, much better in jumping out to a 5-1 lead. They led all the way until the Buckeyes battled back to tie it at 19-19. The teams traded points the rest of the way, and SFU had a chance to tie the match up at 1-1 after OSU served up an error to give the Flash a 29-28 lead. But the Buckeyes were able to win the next serve, and eventually took a 2-0 lead on a Saint Francis kill attempt that fell just wide to drop set two, 31-33. The final point was the only time in the second set that OSU led by more than one.
With their backs to the wall, the Red Flash battled all the way through a close contest in set three. The teams had 14 ties and five lead changes in the set, but it looked as if Ohio State might pull away in taking a 16-12 lead. But SFU reeled off an 8-2 run to take a 20-18 lead. Ohio State tied the set up at 20, 21, 22, 24, 25 and then took one point leads at 26-25 and 27-26. However, Rivett came up with another big kill to tie it at 27-27 and then took the lead on an OSU hitting error. Junior Pete Freyer (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park) (Orchard Park, N.Y. / Orchard Park) and freshman Alex Kane (York, Pa. / West York) then put back a block to force set point. Conley eventually served up Rivett for a kill out of the back row to give the Flash a 30-28 win in the set.
Saint Francis again jumped out to an early lead in set four, 7-2, but the Buckeyes answered with a 7-2 run of their own to tie it up at 9-9. There wound up being four ties and no lead changes in the set as SFU led most of the way. A service error pulled Ohio State within 22-21, but won three of the next four points to take a 25-22 lead, and never looked back. Freyer and Rivett clinched the set and pulled the match even at 2-2 with a block during a great sequence to give the Flash a 30-26 win.
The teams traded points on the first eight serves of set five, but the Buckeyes turned a one point 7-6 edge into a comfortable lead with a 6-2 run to take a 13-8 lead and force SFU into a timeout. The Red Flash were able to battle back to within 13-11, but Ohio State won two of the next three serves to win the set 15-12 and the match 3-2.
Saint Francis hit .349 in the match, while Ohio State hit .338. The Red Flash also held a 15.5 to 8.0 edge in blocks. However, they committed 22 service errors and the Buckeyes had eight service aces. Varee hit .435 with 26 kills and six errors on 46 swings to go with 11 digs and three blocks. Rivett hit .400 with 26 kills and six errors on 50 swings, while adding eight digs. Freyer posted a .500 hitting percentage with 10 kills and six blocks.
