SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (April 24, 2010) – Despite earning a split of the first two sets, the Saint Francis men's volleyball team lost a heartbreaker in the EIVA Quarterfinals, falling 1-3 (29-31, 30-27, 22-30, 25-30) to the Springfield Pride in Springfield, Mass. on Saturday.

The loss concludes the season for the Red Flash, who finish 12-15 overall.  The Pride will take on the top-seeded Penn State Nittany Lions on Thursday, April 29 in University Park.

Red Flash head coach Mike Rumbaugh credited the team defense of the Pride for their victory.  The Pride dug an astounding 82 digs on 168 swings.  Two players - Eric Shoemaker and AJ Nally - posted 22 and 23 digs, respectively.

"I'm at a loss for words right now," said Rumbaugh.  "Springfield's defense was excellent, and that's what won the game for them."

 The Red Flash opened the proceedings with a triple block from Pete Freyer (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park)(Orchard Park, N.Y./Orchard Park), Jordan Varee (Conneautville, PA/Conneaut Valley)(Conneautville, Pa./Conneaut Valley) and Nick Rivett (Pittsburgh, PA/Fox Chapel)(Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel), but promptly gave the advantage away on a service error.  They regained the edge with a deft Varee tip from the backcourt that made it 2-1.  Springfield took their first lead of the set on a triple-block from Eric Shoemaker/Cal Palumbo/AJ Nally that made it 5-4.  The Pride began upping the ante, building their lead as high as three points with a 15-12 score, with the Red Flash hitting just .062 to that point in the set.

The tight battle continued as Springfield kept the Red Flash at arm's length; indeed, the Flash would not get closer than two points until Rivett stopped a long rally with a kill that brought his team to within 17-16.  Alberto Bravo, fresh off a D-III Tournament MVP honor, swung the momentum back with a kill, and Nally pushed one off the hands of a Red Flash defender to build the deficit back to 19-16.  However, the Flash scored three straight to tie it at 19, thanks to an Alex Fortney (York, PA/Central York)(York, Pa./Central York) kill, a Ryan Williams (Pittsburgh, Pa./Montour)(Pittsburgh, Pa./Montour)/Patrick McManamon (Huntingdon, PA/Huntingdon)(Huntingdon, Pa./Huntingdon) double-block, and a setting error by Springfield.  That momentum swing ultimately led to the Red Flash taking the lead at 24-23 on a RIvett kill, his fifth of the set.

After a Springfield timeout, the Pride pulled even at 27-27, but a Varee kill put the Flash ahead 28-27 and prompted Springfield coach Charlie Sullivan to use his second timeout of the first set.  The Pride took the first point out of the timeout, but a service error from Bravo put the Flash at set point.  Nally crushed a kill to tie the score again at 29, and Varee put an attack out of bounds to put the Pride in position to take the first set.  Springfield ultimately took the first set 31-29 on a joust win by Eric Shoemaker over Freyer.

Springfield was on fire to begin the second set, opening up on a 4-0 run that would not be snuffed until a Pete Freyer (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park) kill near the sideline.  The barrage from the Pride continued until Saint Francis head coach Mike Rumbaugh called timeout trailing 7-2; after those nine points, Springfield was hitting .556 while the Red Flash were stuck at .000.  However, the Flash responded with a 6-2 run that pulled them to within 9-8, but gave the advantage back on a Varee attack error.  A long rally that ultimately ended on a Bravo kill prompted Rumbaugh to use his second timeout of the set.

Things appeared to be slipping away from the Flash as they fell behind 16-10, but three straight points, punctuated by a McManamon kill, brought things back within reason.  A pair of quick strikes put the Pride back up 18-13, but they snuffed their own run with a service error.  After Ryan Williams (Pittsburgh, Pa./Montour) scored a kill on an unlikely full swing, Nick Rivett (Pittsburgh, PA/Fox Chapel) pounded two straight aces.  All of a sudden, the five-point hole had become just one, and Springfield coach Charlie Sullivan called timeout to steady his team.

After the timeout, Tyler Mattera (Conneautville, PA/Conneaut Valley)  (Conneautville, Pa./Conneaut Valley) notched a kill to tie the score at 18, and the teams split the next pair of points thanks to kills from Cal Palumbo and Jordan Varee (Conneautville, PA/Conneaut Valley).  The teams were engaged in quite the battle, as neither could build a lead over the other.  With the score tied at 22, Springfield's AJ Nally pushed a kill just beyond the back line to give the Flash a 23-22 lead, prompting Coach Sullivan to use his final timeout of the set.  Finally, the Flash were able to break through and take the 28-26 lead; after a Cal Palumbo attack error, the Red Flash sat at set point.  They ended the second set 30-27 on a Varee kill.

The early going of set three was highlighted by some unfortunate misses for the Flash, who started down 5-2 thanks to a misplayed ball off the rafters and a net violation.  However, Rivett righted the ship will a kill, but Springfield won their third long rally of the day on a McManamon error to maintain a three-point lead.  Springfield piled on, however, pushing the lead to 9-4 with a Palumbo/Nally block.  After Ryan Williams (Pittsburgh, Pa./Montour)' attempted dump kill was pancaked and led to a nearly-identical Shoemaker dump for a Pride point, Rumbaugh was forced to call a timeout with his team trailing 11-5.

The lead would reach eight points as the Pride had their way with the Flash, leading 14-6 at one point on a Palumbo kill.  Rumbaugh was forced to use his second timeout with the Pride up 16-7 on a Bravo kill.  Springfield continued to control the net line, barely giving the hitters of the Flash room to breathe as Greg Falcone and Bravo combined for a block that helped put Springfield up 18-8.

The Red Flash started to slice at the lead, going on an 11-6 run that pulled them within 24-19 and back into the set.  Alex Kane (York, Pa./West York)(York, Pa./West York) got in some quality points, contributing to one of the blocks (along with McManamon) along the way.  Varee replaced Kane and promptly aced Springfield, but the Pride settled down and scored on a pair of Nally kills to make it 26-20.  Springfield took the 2-1 advantage in the match, winning the set 30-22 on a Palumbo kill.  

The Pride took the first two points of the fourth set, but the Red Flash responded with two straight points of their own to tie it at 2-2. Mattera helped pick up the team with a pair of kills, and the Red Flash took the 7-6 lead on a block from the combination of Jordan Varee (Conneautville, PA/Conneaut Valley) and Pete Freyer (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park).  The teams traded points, but Springfield was able to string together a pair of kills from AJ Nally to take the lead 14-12.  After Freyer dug a ball into the rafters that was later misplayed and ultimately led to two straight Springfield points, Rumbaugh called a timeout with the Red Flash trailing 17-14.

After the timeout, Rivett wailed a kill off AJ Nally to stop the bleeding, and put a ball on the same spot  on the next play to pull his team with 17-16.  On the very next play, the senior combined with Patrick McManamon (Huntingdon, PA/Huntingdon) on a block to tie the score at 17-17.  However, every time the Flash tied the score, the Pride would come right back and build another lead; they ultimately went up 24-20 on a joust, prompting Rumbaugh to use a timeout.  After another Springfield point, the Flash notched two straight on Alex's Fortney's kill and Varee's block.  Springfield stemmed the tide and went back up 26-22; after an ace by Greg Falcone put them ahead 27-22, Pete Freyer (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park) responded with a kill.  

The Flash tried to pull back into the set, but the Pride ultimately won on a four-touch violation by the Flash that made it 30-25.
The Flash were led in kills by Rivett, who finished with 17 to go along with six digs.  Freyer had 12 kills and four blocks, while Varee added 11 kills and a team-high six blocks.  John Wappler (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) had a team-high 13 digs.