ITHACA, N.Y. (Sept. 4, 2010) - The Saint Francis women's volleyball team concluded their stay at the Cornell Invitational with a 3-1 (30-28, 25-23, 20-25, 25-21) victory against the hosting Big Red and a 3-1 (26-28, 25-20, 25-27, 16-25) defeat at the hands of the Siena Saints, giving them a record of 1-2 for the weekend and 2-4 for the season.
In addition, senior Lindsay Malloy (Gallitzin, Pa./Penn Cambria) (Gallitzin, Pa./Penn Cambria) was named to the all-tournament team for the weekend. The senior opposite hit .278 over the three matches, recording 37 total kills and a team-high 27 digs as well.
The Red Flash kicked off the day against Cornell in the early match, beginning the day at 11 a.m. against the Big Red. The first set turned out to be a marathon, with the Red Flash forced to overcome a comeback effort from the Big Red. The Red Flash opened the proceedings with a kill from Malloy en route to an 11-5 run that was culminated with a kill from sophomore middle Lizzy Williams (North Bend, Ohio/Saint Ursula). Cornell would fight back with a 9-3 run to tie the score at 14-14, and from there the team would trade points back and forth. The Flash initially held set point at 24-21, but three straight points from Cornell tied the score at 24 and forced Saint Francis head coach Chuck Mullen to call timeout. The teams traded points to 28-28, but a Cornell service error and a Williams kill sealed the 30-28 win.
The second set would be equally close, as neither team was able to truly separate themselves from the other. Midway through the set, the Big Red built up a lead, eventually reaching a score of 17-11. However, the Red Flash put together a 14-6 run to close out the set, including an incredible run by sophomore Amanda Zahumensky (Sarver, Pa./Freeport Area) (Sarver, Pa./Freeport) where she strung together four consecutive aces, the last of which giving the Red Flash a 20-19 lead. After reaching set point on a Leeanne Haus (Mars, Pa./North Allegheny) (Mars, Pa./North Allegheny) kill, Lauren Wingard (York, Pa./Dallastown Area) (York, Pa./Dallastown) put the set away with a kill.
After dropping the third set to Cornell 20-25, the Red Flash overcame deficits of 7-1 and 9-2 to eventually take the fourth set 25-21. They tied the score at 18-18 on a Cornell attack error, and took the set on a Williams service ace. The Red Flash finished with a .153 hitting percentage. Williams and Malloy both ended up with the team-high in kills with 12; Wingard finished with 10. Freshman setter
Logan Meinert (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny) (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny) played in all four sets and provided 32 assists and seven digs. Malloy also finished with the team-high with 19 digs.
Against Siena, the Red Flash found themselves in a quick hole in the first set, trailing 10-3 at the beginning of the first set. However, much like Cornell did to them in the previous match, the Red Flash turned the tables on the Saints to create a marathon set. The Red Flash never did tie the first set; however, they pulled to within 25-24 before ultimately dropping the set 28-26.
In the second set, the Flash traded points with the Saints until 5-6, in which SFU kicked off a 5-0 run with a Malloy kill and ended with a Williams/Rachel Capizzi (Saint Louis, Mo./Mehlville) (St. Louis, Mo./Mehlville) block. The Red Flash maintained that lead for the rest of the set, never again letting the Saints closer than three points in their 25-20 victory that was wrapped up with a Siena attack error. The Red Flash hit a match-high .333 in that set, not committing many errors to tie the score.
The Red Flash built a huge lead midway through the third set, with the gap swelling to seven points at 17-10. However, the Saints were able to close the gap and eventually tied the Red Flash at 24-24 set point. Siena closed on a 3-1 run to take the third set 27-25, and tore through the fourth set to finish 25-16 and win the match 3-1.
Malloy finished with a match-high 21 kills, followed by Wingard's 20 kills. Malloy also hit an impressive .459 in the match while Wingard hit .304. Freshman Brittany Stambaugh (Leola, Pa./Conestoga Valley) (Leola, Pa./Conestoga Valley) got the start at libero and ranked second on the team with nine digs, while setter Kierstin Kiser (Clarion, Pa./Clarion) (Clarion, Pa./Clarion) had 42 assists.
