LORETTO, Pa. (Nov. 14, 2010) - On an emotional Senior Day where three members of the Saint Francis women's volleyball team played their final match at DeGol Arena, the Red Flash kept their slim hopes of making the Northeast Conference playoffs intact with a convincing 3-1 (25-21, 25-21, 21-25, 25-12) win over the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights in Loretto.

The Red Flash finish the regular season with a 9-20 overall record, a two-win improvement over 2009. They went 7-9 in the Northeast Conference, a three-win improvement over 2009. They will await the results of the match between Central Connecticut State and Quinnipiac; a Quinnipiac win would put the Red Flash in the playoffs.

As for the things the Red Flash did control, they took care of business against the Knights, with whom they had been tied in the NEC standings. The Red Flash hit .272 on the day, including hitting percentages of over .375 in both the first and fourth sets.

"It was a great team effort," said Red Flash head coach Chuck Mullen. "They responded to the challenge we put to them. We did everything we could today as far as trying to move up in the conference."

The Flash took the first set 25-21, despite 10 tie scores and four lead changes in the opening stanza. Amanda Zahumensky (Sarver, Pa./Freeport Area) (Sarver, Pa./Freeport) was lights-out in the first set, notching four kills on seven swings for a .571 hitting percentage. A tight set throughout, the Knights led 21-19 deep into the game. After setter Kierstin Kiser (Clarion, Pa./Clarion) (Clarion, Pa./Clarion) notched a dump kill to pull within one, FDU's Meghan Alger recorded an attack error to tie the score and Lindsay Malloy (Gallitzin, Pa./Penn Cambria) (Gallitzin, Pa./Penn Cambria) gave SFU a 22-21 lead with a kill. The Red Flash scored the final six points of the set to win 25-21 on a Lizzy Williams (North Bend, Ohio/Saint Ursula) kill.
There was far less drama in the second set. FDU briefly led the set 4-3, but Williams notched a kill to tie the score at 4-4 and Lauren Wingard (York, Pa./Dallastown Area) (York, Pa./Dallastown) recorded a kill to give Saint Francis a lead it would never again relinquish. The margin became as great as seven points, and the Red Flash easily dispatched the Knights 25-21 in the second set on a Malloy kill.

In the third set, though, the Knights would not be content to let the Red Flash get into position to make the playoffs ahead of themselves. Fairleigh Dickinson hit .333 in the third set and Sarah Berkland had six kills in the Knights' 25-21 win.

The Red Flash were able to put together one more dominant set, however, hitting .379 in defeating the Knights in the fourth set by a score of 25-12. Saint Francis started the set on a 14-4 run and put the outcome out of question early, with FDU's Erin Roudebush's attack error sealing the regular season for both teams.

Zahumensky had a match-high 15 kills for the Red Flash and hit .462 in the process, recording just three errors on 26 swings. Malloy, one of the three graduating seniors along with libero Chrissy Breisch (Edwardsburg, Mich./Edwardsburg) and outside hitter Rachel Capizzi (Saint Louis, Mo./Mehlville) (St. Louis, Mo./Mehlville), had 12 kills and 10 digs.

Lauren Wingard (York, Pa./Dallastown Area) hit .320 to finish the season with a .322 hitting percentage, the highest single-season mark in SFU history. She and Malloy also finished with 315 and 310 kills, respectively, making them the first Red Flash duo to each record 300+ kills since 2008.

Breisch had a match-high 24 digs, while Capizzi added three kills and 10 digs.

"They're a resilient group," said Mullen of his seniors. "They were great leaders this year for the underclassmen. They set a good standard for the rest of the team to follow in the years to come."