SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (April 6, 2010) - Nine days ago, on March 28, the Springfield Pride came to Loretto and spoiled Senior Day for the Saint Francis men's volleyball team. Tonight, the Red Flash returned the favor, defeating the Pride 3-0 (30-27, 30-28, 30-21) on Senior Night in Springfield.
The win evens the Red Flash's overall record at 11-11, with a 4-5 record in the EIVA Tait. The win is a positive on several levels for the Red Flash. First, it guarantees that the Red Flash cannot finish in last place in the EIVA Tait, and therefore guarantees them a spot in the 2010 conference tournament, thanks to the tiebreaker the Red Flash own over the Juniata Eagles; Juniata can do no better than tie the Red Flash, and the Red Flash own the tiebreaker thanks to the season sweep over the Eagles.
Second, it means the Red Flash will also finish ahead of Springfield because they won four sets against the Pride, in comparison to Springfield's three this season. Now guaranteed to finish at least fourth in the Tait, the Red Flash will now officially have a home match on Saturday, April 24 in the conference tournament.
Finally, it means a win tomorrow against George Mason will put the Red Flash in a position to finish second or third in the conference; a sweep would guarantee at least the third place finish, as the Red Flash will have won more sets in the head-to-head match-up with George Mason.
According to Red Flash head coach Mike Rumbaugh, team defense sealed the win for the Flash.
"I thought we did a great job at putting balls away, but mostly stopping them from putting balls away," said Rumbaugh. "[Tyler Mattera (Conneautville, PA/Conneaut Valley) (Conneautville, Pa./Conneaut Valley)] made some digs in key places, and the overall play was just solid."
The Red Flash and Pride traded points up until the midpoint of the first set, with the Pride tying the score at 14-14 on a kill from Alberto Bravo. However, Nick Rivett (Pittsburgh, PA/Fox Chapel) (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel) put a ball away to put the Red Flash up 15-14, and then Patrick McManamon (Huntingdon, PA/Huntingdon) (Huntingdon, Pa./Huntingdon) blocked a Cal Palumbo attack and notched a kill of his own to help spark a 5-1 run for the Flash. SFU hit .410 in the first set, and the Flash were able to hold off the Pride until putting the set away 30-27 on a Pete Freyer (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park) (Orchard Park, N.Y./Orchard Park) kill.
The Red Flash controlled a long stretch in the second set. With the score tied 5-5, Tyler Mattera (Conneautville, PA/Conneaut Valley) ripped a kill to open up a 12-4 that ultimately ended with a Jordan Varee (Conneautville, PA/Conneaut Valley) (Conneautville, Pa./Conneaut Valley) kill and an AJ Nally attack error, the score now 17-9. The Pride responded with a 10-4 run of their own, pulling within 21-19 on a Greg Falcone kill. Freyer responded with a kill, and immediately after combined with Varee on a block to put the Red Flash back up by four. The Red Flash would lead 29-25, but a number of attack errors pulled the Pride to within 29-28; ultimately, Varee would put away a ball to give his team the 30-28 win and a 2-0 lead.
The Red Flash would go coast-to-coast in the third set, opening with a Jordan Varee (Conneautville, PA/Conneaut Valley) kill and never feeling seriously threatened by Springfield. The largest lead for the Red Flash was nine as they ran away with the 30-21 set win and the 3-0 sweep, hitting .600 in the final frame.
Varee led the Red Flash with 19 kills and hit a sharp .567, but even that gaudy number was surpassed by the .786 hitting percentage of Freyer, neither of whom padded their hitting percentage with few swings; Freyer went 12-for-14 with just one error, Varee 19-for-30 with just three.
Rumbaugh gave some of the credit to his sophomore setter Ryan Williams (Pittsburgh, Pa./Montour) (Pittsburgh, Pa./Montour).
"He's been working really hard and set these guys well," said Rumbaugh.
Nick Rivett (Pittsburgh, PA/Fox Chapel) added 12 kills and six digs, while Mattera ended up with the team high in digs with eight. Freyer added five blocks.
The Red Flash will take on the George Mason Patriots tomorrow evening at 7 p.m.
