LORETTO, Pa. (Fed. 7, 2009) – After winning the first two sets, the Saint Francis men's volleyball team let the final three slip away as they fell to the Princeton Tigers 3-2 on Saturday afternoon at DeGol Arena.
The Flash stumbled early in the first game, with Princeton jumping out to a 3-0 led on an attack error by Jordan Varee (Conneautville, PA/Conneaut Valley) (Conneautville, Pa./Conneaut Valley). Varee made up for it by scoring SFU's first point of the game on a kill from Shane Conley (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny). The Flash were able to come from behind and tie the game at 13-13 on an attack error by Princeton's Phillip Rosenberg. Saint Francis took a 23-19 lead with an Alex Fortney (York, PA/Central York) (York, Pa./Central York) and held on for a 30-26 win that came on a kill by Nick Rivett (Pittsburgh, PA/Fox Chapel) (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel).
The second game started off much like the first, with Princeton taking the first point with a kill by Jeff McCown. Rivett earned the Flash's first point on a kill of his own soon after, and the advantage went back and forth from there. Fortney committed an attack error to tie the score at 15-15, but a kill by Rivett gave the Flash a go-ahead point. Saint Francis held onto the small advantage until an attack error by Patrick McManamon tied the game 24-24. A service error by Varee tied the score again at 28-28, but kills by Fortney and Rivett were enough to give the Flash another win at 30-28.
Princeton kept the third game close, and by far the most interesting. The two team's traded points in the beginning until a service error by Princeton's Carl Hamming tied the game at 25-25. The Tigers took the next point on a kill by Mike Vincent, and the Flash scored on of their own on a kill by Fortney. Varee committed two consecutive errors to give Princeton a 30-29 advantage before Fortney had a kill to tie the game at 30-30. Again, the teams traded the advantage, committing six errors in the final plays of the crucial game. Consecutive kills by McCown and Rosenberg gave the Tigers the 38-36 victory, their first of the afternoon.
The Red Flash took the court in game four hoping to take back their lead and end the match, but wouldn't end up having much luck. An error by Varee again started the scoring, and the Tigers jumped out to a 5-2 lead on a kill by Hamming. The Flash stormed back to a 13-9 advantage on an attack error by Vincent Tuminelli. SFU retained their advantage until an attack error by Rivett tied the score at 19-19. A kill by Tuminelli quickly gave Princeton a 27-24 lead, and they were able to hold on for a 3-25 win to tie the match at two sets apiece.
In the fifth and final set, Saint Francis stormed out to a 5-2 lead on a kill by Fortney. Another kill by Fortney put them up 10-5, but the Tigers went on a 4-2 run to bring the score to 12-9 on an attack error by Varee. Consecutive kills by Vincent tied the game at 13-13, before error by Fortney and a service ace by Hamming ended the game at 15-13, giving the Tigers the victory in both the set and the match.
“Today we didn't finish at the end of game three, and it came back to haunt us later,” said Red Flash head coach Mike Rumbaugh. “Princeton is too good of a team not to finish against. We weren't able to finish in game five either, and we need to give a better effort.”
McManamon had the day's best attack percentage at .333 and also added in 4 block assists. Varee continued his dominance with 25 kills, 2 assists, and 11 digs. Rivett had 24 kills and a service ace for the Flash. Conley dished out 61 assists, and had 5 digs.
Vincent had 10 kills for the Tigers, and Ka'ohu Berg-Hee led the team in digs with 13. Hamming had 3 service aces on the day.
The Flash will host in-state rival Juniata College on Feb. 11 at DeGol Arena in a 7 p.m. match up.
