LORETTO, Pa. (Jan. 28, 2011) - The Saint Francis men's volleyball team had the look of a team gunning for an upset, but an emotionally draining third set turned the tide towards the Lewis Flyers, who defeated the Red Flash 3-1 (28-26, 19-25, 37-39, 18-25) in Loretto.

"I was really happy with the ball control we showed," said Red Flash head coach Michael Rumbaugh.  "I think our young kids are growing up fast.  But the amount of fight in these guys is really impressive, and it forces other teams to go out and beat us."

The Red Flash fall to 2-3 overall, while Lewis improves to a perfect 6-0.

After the two teams split the first two sets, Lewis jumped to a 20-17 lead in the third set and seemed poised to take the 2-1 advantage.  However, after a Flyer service error, freshman Colin Sherwin registered two straight service aces to tie the set at 20-20.

What came next was unexpected, to say the least; the teams traded points back and forth, never letting the other get more than a one-point advantage. 

First set point came and went, then the second, then the third...

By the time Lewis's Ian Karbiener notched a kill to take the set at 39-37, there had been 17 set points.  Overall, the set had 10 lead changes and 31 tied scores.

The Flyers appeared energized the emotional set win, while the Red Flash seemed to lack enough pep in the fourth set to overcome the 2-1 advantage.  Saint Francis led as late as 14-13, but the Flyers put the clamps on and ultimately took the set 25-18.

"After we jumped on the lead early, I felt we lost some of our emotion and we weren't  scrapping the way we were earlier," said Rumbaugh.  "We had a chance to finish them and let them back into the game."

The third set fireworks were not wholly unexpected, as the two teams put on quite a show in the first set as well.  The Red Flash jumped out to a 7-3 lead, capped by a Seth Katich (Pittsburgh, PA/Fox Chapel) kill, and held it for most of the set.  Things seemed rosy as the Flash jumped out to a 24-19 lead and set point, but Lewis registered five straight points to tie the score at 24-24.  Adam Roche (Cochranton, Pa./Cochranton) notched a kill to give the Flash the advantage, but Lewis took two straight to force set point at 26-25.  A Jay Petty service error gave SFU the hole it needed, with freshman Logan Patterson putting away two straight balls to take the set 28-26.

In the second set, Lewis adjusted to the Red Flash attackand took control early, ultimately taking the set 25-19.

Chad Martson (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall) finished the match tied for the match-high with 13 kills, and also added one ace, two digs, and three blocks.  Alex Kane (York, Pa./West York) got the start and had 12 kills to go with one block.  Logan Patterson had 10 kills, two digs, one assist, and one block.  John Wappler (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) had a match-high 14 digs.