FORT WAYNE, Ind. (April 09, 2010) - Inspiration can be a funny thing.  While it is nice to believe that a team should be motivated for every competition, there is simply no telling what could possibly trigger a positive response, that perfect storm of anxiousness, excitement and determination.

So when Brett Williams - the young nephew of the Saint Francis men's volleyball team's Ryan Williams (Pittsburgh, Pa./Montour) (Pittsburgh, Pa./Montour) - won a musical chairs competition between sets four and five of the Red Flash's match against the IPFW Mastodons, head coach Mike Rumbaugh was just as shocked as anyone to see his team become visibly fired up and take the final set, winning the tightly-contested match 3-2 (30-27, 26-30, 30-28, 23-30, 15-11).

"Believe it or not, that really pumped them up," said Rumbaugh.  "They were on fire in the fifth set."

The win pushes the Red Flash to 12-12 overall, while the 'Dons fall to 9-16 overall.  The victory avenges a 3-2 loss to IPFW earlier in the season, in another five-set nailbiter.

The two teams played top offensive ball at the beginning of the match, but the play soon became "sloppy," according to Rumbaugh. 

"We were able to force more mistakes," said Rumbaugh.

The first set, featured lights-out offense.  In winning 30-27, the Red Flash hit .630, notching 19 kills on 27 swings with just two errors.  The 'Dons did not exactly have an off-set themselves, hitting at a .406 clip with just four errors.  The senior duo of Nick Rivett (Pittsburgh, PA/Fox Chapel) (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel) and Jordan Varee (Conneautville, PA/Conneaut Valley) (Conneautville, Pa./Conneaut Valley) combined for 11 kills and hit .833 and .750, respectively, with no errors.  Pete Freyer (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park) (Orchard Park, N.Y./Orchard Park) opened the proceedings with a kill in a tight set that featured 12 ties and four lead changes.  The 'Dons would take the lead for the first time halfway through the set on an Elon Fyfield kill that made it 12-11, but the Flash would regain the lead at 18-17 on a Rivett kill.  This was all part of a 6-1 Red Flash run that was punctuated by a Freyer block, a Fyfield attack error, and an IPFW timeout.  The 'Dons would take the lead 25-24 out of the timeout, but the Red Flash put together three quick kills, one from Freyer and two from Varee, and ultimately take the set 30-27 on another Rivett kill.

Tyler Mattera (Conneautville, PA/Conneaut Valley) (Conneautville, Pa./Conneaut Valley) opened the second set with a service ace, but the 'Dons quickly countered with an 8-2 run to put themselves ahead 10-6.  It would be the last time they trailed in the set as they asserted their dominance, eventually taking the set 30-26 on a Corey Frain/Oliver Kook block.  The Red Flash hit an abysmal .162 in the second set, and the 'Dons tied the match at one set apiece.

The Flash would get back down to business in the third set, as Alex Fortney (York, PA/Central York) (York, Pa./Central York) came off the bench to provide some punch in the Flash's 30-28 third set victory.  Fortney contributed three kills in the set on a .375 hitting percentage, and also notched a pair of key blocks.  Two of those blocks came on Patrick McManamon (Huntingdon, PA/Huntingdon)'s (Huntingdon, Pa./Huntingdon) serve with the Red Flash up 14-12, and snuffed potential IPFW rallies.

"Alex was great off the bench tonight," said Rumbaugh.  "He brought some great energy and played very well on the serve receive.  He helped keep us in control."

The Mastodons came back in the fourth set and began with the lead on a Frain/Kook block; oddly enough, despite seven tied scores over the course of the set, there would be no lead changes as the 'Dons were able to stay just ahead of the Flash.  Again the Flash were plagued by weak hitting, as SFU hit a measly .071 in the fourth stanza. 

In the fifth set, though, the Red Flash would turn the tables on the 'Dons; after a Kook/Fyfield block tied the score at 1-1, it was the Red Flash who would not let the Mastodons take the lead again.  In fact, never again would the 'Don's even tie the score as the Red Flash mustered a 9-4 start to the fifth set.  Fortney added two more kills, and Rivett would ultimately seal the win for the Red Flash with a solo block on Corey Frain.

The Red Flash were led overall by Rivett, who posted a double-double of 14 kills and 13 digs.  He also posted the team high in blocks with four and added an ace.  Varee lead the team with 22 kills and added eight digs.  Freyer and McManamon tied each other in kills with 11.  John Wappler (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) had 12 digs, while Fortney had 11 digs to go with his seven kills.