BOX SCORE LORETTO, Pa. (Jan. 23, 2011) - The first win of the 2011 season proved elusive for the Saint Francis men's volleyball team, but the Red Flash got off the schneid in their third match of the season with a convincing 3-1 (25-15, 25-18, 21-25, 25-14) over the NJIT Highlanders at DeGol Arena.

The Red Flash improve to 1-2 overall, 0-1 in the EIVA Tait.  NJIT falls to 1-5 overall.

The Red Flash had their second straight match of hot-hitting, registering a .381 hitting percentage in the victory.  Although they recorded just 4.0 team blocks, the Flash posted 40 digs and held the Highlanders to a .182 hitting percentage.

The first set was an offensive showcase for Saint Francis, as they blasted away at a .583 clip in a 25-15 set win.  The Red Flash opened on a 7-3 run that started on a John Skarupa (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegehny) kill.  The Highlanders stumbled their way to just a .107 hitting percentage, and the Red Flash lead became as great as nine points when Chad Martson (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall) banged home a kill to make it 22-13.  Colin Sherwin iced the first set with a kill to make it 25-15.

The Highlanders didn't let the Red Flash run away with the second set as they did the first, but Saint Francis was still able to create enough separation to post another big win.  Tied at 12-12 after NJIT's Kevin Van Oss kill, the Flash scored three straight points, including a block from Martson and Skarupa and a kill from Skarupa.  After Skarupa forced set point with a block to make it 24-17, NJIT's Andrei Stoyanow shanked a serve to give the Flash a 25-18 win.

Coach Rumbaugh emptied his bench in the third set, and after a rough start the bench gained its footing and battled back against the Highlanders.  NJIT started on a 7-3 run that featured two blocks from Kevin Van Oss, but SFU eventually slashed the deficit to 22-20 on a Sherwin kill and a Markus Schulze (Berlin, Germany/Anne Frank) ace.  The Highlanders ultimately took the set 25-21 on an SFU attack error.

Saint Francis bounced back in a big way in the fourth set.  The score was just 9-8 in favor of SFU, but a 3-0 run (closed on an Adam Roche (Cochranton, Pa./Cochranton) kill) forced NJIT head coach Ryan McNeil to call timeout trailing 12-8.  The Flash piled on the rest of the way, outscoring the Highlanders on a 13-6 pace to win the set 25-14.

For the second consecutive match, freshman opposite Colin Sherwin led the Flash in kills, this time with a career-high 15 while hitting .417.  John Skarupa (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegehny) was also in double-digits, posting a career-high 13 and also adding two blocks.  Chad Martson (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall) had six kills and hit .667.  Ryan Williams (Pittsburgh, Pa./Montour) had 38 assists in three sets of play and helped the Flash to a .381 hitting percentage; freshman Michael Krepp had 10 assists in one set of work.  John Wappler (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) had a season-high 18 digs.