SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Saint Francis men's volleyball team was out-hit and out-blocked in dropping a key EIVA Tait Division match at Springfield, 3-1, on Saturday night.

Junior Jordan Varee (Conneautville, PA/Conneaut Valley) (Conneautville, Pa. / Conneaut Valley) had a match-high 20 kills, junior Nick Rivett (Pittsburgh, PA/Fox Chapel) (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Fox Chapel) had 12 kills, freshman John Wappler (Warrendale, Pa. / North Allegheny) posted 11 digs and senior Shane Conley (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) (Pittsburgh, Pa. / North Allegheny) dished out 40 assists.

But Springfield got 13 blocks from Andy Sipe in taking the match 30-20, 30-27, 25-30 and 30-21. The Red Flash fell to 12-11 overall, and 5-4 in the EIVA Conference with the loss, while the Pride improved to 13-7 overall and 5-5 in league play.

Springfield avenged a pair of earlier losses to the Red Flash, and held a 50-35 advantage in digs and out-blocked SFU 21.5 to 8.0.

The Pride jumped out to a 7-2 lead and kept the pressure on as they went on to lead by as many as 11 in the first frame. Springfield hit .348 and took advantage of eight SFU service errors.

Springfield opened an early lead in the second set, but Saint Francis battled back to get within three at 15-12. However, the Pride used an 11-1 run to put the stanza out of reach.

SFU took the third set by opening up a 19-11 lead and never looking back. Varee had eight of his 20 kills, and hit .417 in the set.

However, the Pride jumped out 11-5 in the fourth set and eventually led by a commanding 23-11 score.