LORETTO, Pa. (April 5, 2009) – Shane Conley (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) had 50 assists in his final career game at DeGol Arena as the Saint Francis volleyball team earned a 3-0 decision over George Mason in their home finale on Sunday afternoon.
Prior to the game, Saint Francis honored it's lone senior, Conley, who was playing in his final game at DeGol Arena. Conley departs SFU as the career lead in assists with 4,177 prior to today's game.
Saint Francis moves to 13-12 overall and 6-5 in the EIVA. They will travel to Princeton on April 9 for a 7 p.m. match up with the Tigers.
The Red Flash started off strong, scoring the first two points of the game on kills by Jordan Varee (Conneautville, PA/Conneaut Valley) (Conneautville, Pa./Conneautville). They went on to take a 14-10 lead on a kill from Alex Fortney (York, PA/Central York) (York, Pa./Central York), and were able to keep the lead and stretch it to 24-19 with another Fortney kill. George Mason battled back to tie the game 27-27, and the 28-28 before an attack error by Patriot outside hitter Andrew Dentler sealed the win for Saint Francis 30-28. Conley added 17 more assists to his career total in set one, while Varee led the way with seven kills and two aces.
A kill by Nick Rivett (Pittsburgh, PA/Fox Chapel) (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel) earned the Flash the first points of the second set, and a service ace by Rivett put them ahead 3-1. Saint Francis built up a 19-13 lead on another kill by Rivett, and the advantage increased to seven points with a Patriot attack error. George Mason couldn't find the power to close the gap, and the Red Flash sealed set two 30-25 with another kill by Rivett, who lead the team with eight kills in the second set.
Rivett put the Red Flash ahead 4-0 in set three with a kill assisted by Conley. A kill by Fortney put the advantage at 9-7. The Patriots came close to tying the game, when a kill by Kyle Gramit put them down 19-18. Saint Francis stayed strong, taking a 25-21 lead on a Fortney kill, and sealed the deal with a kill by Ryan Williams (Pittsburgh, Pa./Montour) and earning a 30-26 decision in the set to take a 3-0 win overall. Varee again led the way with eight kills, with Pete Freyer (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park) adding in four blocks.
Saint Francis ended the afternoon with a .345 attack percentage and 58 kills. Rivett accounted for 20 of those kills, and Varee chipped in with 19. Freyer had four blocks, and John Wappler (Warrendale, Pa./North Allegheny) lead in digs with 11. Freyer also ended the day with an attack percentage of .500.
Conley had a total of 50 assists across the three sets, and currently has a career total of 4,227.
Gramit had 18 kills for the Patriots, and Ryan Kwiatkowski had 36 assists. George Mason had a three-set hitting percentage of .274.
