LORETTO, Pa. (Feb. 19, 2010) - In one of the most thrilling matches in recent memory, the Red Flash men's volleyball team dropped a high-scoring fifth set, falling to the IPFW Mastodons 3-2 (27-30, 30-26, 26-30, 30-23, 21-19) in Loretto on Friday.
The teams were locked in a deathgrip in the fifth set, going well beyond the 15-point minimum needed as neither team could establish a two-point advantage. The Mastodons finally took the set after the Red Flash failed to convert with a 19-18 lead; Pete Freyer (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park)'s (Orchard Park, N.Y./Orchard Park) kill was followed by an Oliver Kook kill and then a pair of blocks on Jordan Varee (Conneautville, PA/Conneaut Valley) (Conneautville, Pa./Conneaut Valley) and Nick Rivett (Pittsburgh, PA/Fox Chapel) (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel) to seal the fate of the Red Flash.
Varee and Rivett, though, were not blocked often; Varee finished with a season-high 32 kills, one shy of his school-record 33, on just 52 swings with six errors to give him a .500 hitting percentage. Rivett, meanwhile, had his tenth consecutive double-digit kill match with 15 kills, and added 13 digs for his second double-double of 2010.
After a tight beginning to the first set, the teams exchanged a pair of long runs of dominance. Tied at 11-11, the Red Flash went on an 6-2 run, including five straight points on Rivett's serves. The 'Dons countered, though, with a 5-1 run that was punctuated by an Elon Fyfield kill to make it 19-18 in favor of SFU. Ultimately, the Red Flash pulled away on a pair of kills from Varee and Freyer, in combination with a number of IPFW errors, to take the set 30-27.
The fast-paced second set opened with a Corey Frain service error to put the Flash up 1-0, but the situation was quickly rectified by a Darryl Shank kill. SFU briefly took the lead on a Rivett kill that made the score 7-6, but it was the last time they would be on top in the second set; IPFW rolled on a 10-5 run that was highlighted by a pair of blocks to make the score 16-12 before the Red Flash called timeout. Content to simply trade points from there on, the 'Dons finished the set on a Kook kill to make it 30-26.
The Red Flash retaliated in the third set with perhaps their best set of the night. After quickly falling behind 2-0 on a Kook kill and a Rivett attack error, the Flash responded with an 8-2 that was highlighted by Jordan Varee (Conneautville, PA/Conneaut Valley)'s three kills and one ace. SFU plowed ahead to make the lead as great as seven points, and the Flash took the third set 30-26.
However, the wheels seemingly came off in the fourth set. The Flash were never able to establish any traction against IPFW, who took the lead at 6-5 on a Rivett service error and never looked back. The 'Dons never led by more than four points, and SFU rallied to tie the score at 22-22 on a Ryan Williams (Pittsburgh, Pa./Montour) (Pittsburgh, Pa./Montour)/Patrick McManamon (Huntingdon, PA/Huntingdon) (Huntingdon, Pa./Huntingdon) block. However, Dan Mader of the 'Dons bedeviled the Flash in the serve-receive, recorded two service aces and pulling the momentum in his team's favor. The fourth set closed on a hat trick of kills from IPFW, as the 'Dons finished on a 7-1 run to win 30-23.
Also finishing in double-digits for kills for the Red Flash was Freyer, who add 10 to go with his one dig and three blocks. Williams finished with a career-high 63 assists that was just one shy of entering the top-eight single-match performances in SFU history.
The Red Flash will compete again tomorrow at 7 p.m. against the Ball State Cardinals.
