LORETTO, Pa. (Feb. 23, 2010) - The Saint Francis men's volleyball team snapped two match losing streaks both overall and in the EIVA Tait with a sound 3-1 (33-35, 30-17, 30-23, 30-17) victory over the Juniata Eagles in Loretto on Tuesday night.
The Red Flash improve to 8-6 overall, 1-2 in the EIVA Tait, while the Eagles fall to 4-6 overall, also 1-2 in the EIVA Tait.
The Red Flash had been 1-5 in their past six matches and had not yet won a match in conference. According to head coach Mike Rumbaugh, it was good to get the elephant off the collective back of the team.
"We're feeling very relieved right now, very relieved," said Rumbaugh. "But everyone put in hard work in practice on Sunday and Monday. Tonight's win was because of the team effort on Sunday and Monday."
The Red Flash continued their torrid pace attacking the ball, hitting .392 against Juniata. Meanwhile, the Red Flash blockers recorded 13 total team blocks, smothering the Eagles and forcing them into 31 hitting errors over the four sets.
The first set was a marathon reminiscent of the fifth set the Red Flash played against IPFW on Friday, as neither team could manage to escape the reach of the other. There were 15 tie scores in the first set, and the quick pace of the match kept either team from calling a timeout until the Eagles called one after a 4-1 SFU run. Juniata began in strong fashion, though, leading 7-3 that was capped by a Patrick McManamon (Huntingdon, PA/Huntingdon) (Huntingdon, Pa./Huntingdon) service error.
The Red Flash chipped away, however, and were able to eventually tie the score on an Alex Fortney (York, PA/Central York) (York, Pa./Central York) kill. From there, the teams traded points. The Red Flash built their largest lead of the set, 27-24, thanks to a Jordan Varee (Conneautville, PA/Conneaut Valley) (Conneautville, Pa./Conneaut Valley) kill. The Eagles closed the gap, tying the score at 29-29 on a Ben Wolff kill.
Now Juniata pushed the issue, with Zach Wanner making the lead 32-31 and Dan Follett making it 33-32. The Red Flash tied it on a huge Varee kill, but Pete Freyer (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park)'s (Orchard Park, N.Y./Orchard Park) service error was followed by another Wolff kill to give Juniata the exhausting 35-33 win.
It would be the last daylight the Eagles would see, though, as the Red Flash closed the set with three straight victories, thundering away at Juniata. In the second set, Freyer sparked the Red Flash with four of his match- and career-high 12 blocks. Evan Haltemann would pull the Eagles to within 6-5 , but Varee ripped a kill and the race was on.
The Red Flash made the score 16-11 after a Freyer kill, and piled on with a 9-1 run that saw two Ryan Williams (Pittsburgh, Pa./Montour) (Pittsburgh, Pa./Montour) service aces and, at one point, four consecutive blocks from Freyer.
"The team rallied around Pete [Freyer's] blocks, and each time he got another one they got more fired up," said Rumbaugh.
The Eagles rallied with a 5-1, but it was all over as Nick Rivett (Pittsburgh, PA/Fox Chapel) (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel) closed the set with a kill to make it 30-17.
SFU allowed the first point of the third set on a Freyer service error, but it was again off the to the races as the Red Flash countered with 4-1 run to make it 5-2. Juniata countered with a 5-1 run to briefly take the lead 7-6, but SFU went on a lengthy 13-4 run that began with a Varee kill and ultimately ended with one from Rivett. The Red Flash hit a staggering .414 in the third set, as opposed to just .143 for the Eagles. Freyer managed to pick up four more blocks in the set, and the Flash won 30-23.
The Red Flash took the fourth set in coast-to-coast fashion, taking the quick 1-0 lead on a Rivett kill. The Eagles would pull as close as 6-6, but the Flash countered with a 10-4 run to make it 20-10. Rivett finally sealed the deal with a monster kill to make it 30-17.
SFU was led by Varee, who notched 20 kills and 12 digs for his second-straight double-double and fifth of the season. Ryan Williams (Pittsburgh, Pa./Montour) also recorded a double-double with 51 assists and 10 digs, a career high. Unfortunately, coming ever-so-close to a double-double was Pete Freyer (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park), who finished with nine kills but 12 blocks. The 12 blocks rank tied for fifth in a single match in Red Flash history.
Rivett had his 12th-straight double-digit kill match, notching20 to go along with eight digs, two aces, and two blocks. John Wappler (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) (Warrendale, Pa./North Allegheny) had a strong match, recording 15 digs and committing just one reception error.
