LORETTO, Pa. (Feb. 12, 2011) - Less than 24 hours after a convincing 3-0 win over the Princeton Tigers, the Saint Francis men's volleyball team dropped a three-set match of their own, falling to the Rutgers-Newark Scarlet Raiders 3-0 (21-25, 20-25, 19-25) at DeGol Arena.

The Red Flash fall to 4-5 overall, 1-3 in the EIVA Tait.  The Scarlet Raiders improve to 8-1 overall, 2-1 in the EIVA Tait.

"[Rutgers-Newark] came in with a lot more energy, which led to them playing a more physical game than us," said Red Flash head coach Michael Rumbaugh.

Saint Francis struggld out of the gate on offense, hitting just .100 for the match with nearly as many errors (21) as kills (28).  In comparison, the Scarlet Raiders hit at a healthy .313 clip over three sets of play.  Rutgers-Newark was also ahead in the blocks department, out-blocking the Red Flash 8.5 - 6.0. 

The first set started out in favor of the Scarlet Raiders, who established a 2-0 lead quickly and were able to keep the Flash in check, for the most part.  SFU took the lead, briefly, at 9-8 on a block from Logan Patterson and Eric Syty (Clarence, NY/Clarence), but it would be the last time they looked down at the Raiders; Rutgers-Newark picked up steam and finished the set 25-21.

The second set would proceed in almost the exact manner, including the point at which the Red Flash first took the lead (9-8); however, this time, the Red Flash would also take the lead at 10-9 before the Scarlet Raiders came back.  The last great chance came for the Flash when Chad Martson (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall) pumped a kill to bring his team within two points at 21-19, but R-N scored the next three points to seal it 25-20.  The Scarlet Raiders would go coast-to-coast in the third set, never trailing and ultimately winning 25-19.

The Red Flash were led offensively by Patterson, who registered seven kills, two digs, one ace, one assist, and one block.   Syty had six kills and four blocks.  Adam Roche (Cochranton, Pa./Cochranton) had five kills, one dig, and two blocks.