LORETTO, Pa. (Jan. 24, 2010) – The #15 Red Flash men's volleyball team extended a five-match winning streak, prolonging what has been their best start to a season in 15 years, with a 3-1 (30-20, 30-32, 30-24, 31-29) win over the Harvard Crimson on Sunday.

The Flash have begun the season 6-1, which is the best start for a Red Flash team under head coach Mike Rumbaugh and the best since the 1995 team opened the season with ten consecutive victories under Gary Evangelisto.  Harvard falls to 0-2 overall.

“I knew we've been off to a great start, but I didn't know we stacked up that well,” said Rumbaugh.  “That's pretty cool.”

In the victory over the Crimson, Rumbaugh was able to rotate in a fresh crew of players, using his depth to overcome a second weekend of three matches in as many days.  Furthermore, the Red Flash were on a short turnaround from their last match; they played at Rutgers-Newark the night before and did not return home until the early hours of the morning, and then played Harvard at 1 p.m.

“There were some tired guys, that's for sure,” said Rumbaugh.  “But I thought we showed some good physical and mental fitness, and they were able to fight the adversity.”

Overall, 13 different players entered the match for the Red Flash.

The Crimson staked themselves out to an early lead in the first set, leading 7-4 thanks to an Adam Roche (Cochranton, Pa./Cochranton) service error.  However, the Crimson committed four errors in their next five plays, which combined with an Alex Fortney (York, PA/Central York) (York, Pa./Central York) and John Skarupa (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegehny) (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) block made the score 9-7 in favor of the Red Flash.  The Red Flash continued the first set assault, building the lead to 22-19.  The Flash would close on an 8-1 run to take the first set 30-20.

In the second set, the Red Flash hit just .100, and the miscues allowed the Crimson to tie the match at one set apiece.  Matt Jones of Harvard went off in the second set, notching nine of his match-high 17 kills and recording a .538 hitting percentage.  With the set 19-18 in favor of Harvard, Jones recorded two straight kills and was followed up by an Erik Kuld service ace.  That made the score 22-18.

Harvard made an 11-5 run to push the score to 29-23, seeming all but assured to take the second set.  The Red Flash countered with six straight points, but the Crimson took three of the last four points to win the set 32-30.

Saint Francis wasted no time getting down to business in the third set, opening on a 7-3 run and pushing their lead to as high as 14-7.  Jordan Varee (Conneautville, PA/Conneaut Valley) (Conneautville, Pa./Conneaut Valley) had five of his eight kills in the third set, and the Red Flash pushed the lead to 21-14.  Harvard would go on a 6-1 run to slice the lead to 22-20, but a Nick Rivett (Pittsburgh, PA/Fox Chapel) (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel) service ace and a pair of Fortney kills closed the third set 30-24 for the Flash.

The fourth set saw Harvard take the lead at 8-7 and hold it until 27-27.  The Crimson regained a two-point lead on a Matt Jones kill and a Fortney attack error, making it 29-27.  However, they were again unable to seal the deal; after a Jones service error, the Red Flash responded with a block of Jones by Rivett and Eric Syty (Clarence, NY/Clarence) (Clarence, N.Y./Clarence), and a  block of Rob Lothman by Rivett to take the 30-29 lead.

Jones's next attempt was an error, and the Red Flash took the fourth and final set 31-29.

The Red Flash were led in kills by Rivett, who finished with ten.  Fortney finished second with nine, while Skarupa and Varee each had eight kills apiece.  Rivett also had five blocks.  Fortney finished with ten digs, leaving him one kill shy of his second double-double this season.  Ryan Williams (Pittsburgh, Pa./Montour) (Pittsburgh, Pa./Montour) had 46 assists.

The Red Flash travel to Illinois this weekend, where they will take on Lewis and Loyola-Chicago of the MIVA.