LORETTO, Pa. (Feb. 18, 2011) - The Saint Francis men's volleyball team registered an efficient, diverse offensive performance, hitting .364 en route to a 3-1 (22-25, 25-19, 25-19, 25-19) handling of the Harvard Crimson in DeGol Arena.  The Red Flash improve to 5-5 overall, while the Crimson fall to 6-2 overall.

The Red Flash had seven different players contribute two or more kills, and three players notched double-digit kills totals for just the third time this season.  While freshman Logan Patterson led the team with 14 kills, it was junior middle John Skarupa (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegehny) that set the tone; Skarupa finished with 13 kills on 20 swings with just one error for a sterling .600 hitting percentage.

The only time Saint Francis wobbled in the match was the first set, when the Crimson jumped on them immediately to begin the match.  Harvard took a 3-2 lead and, though they would allow the Red Flash to tie the score several more times, they never relinquished that lead in winning the first game 25-22.

Despite the loss, the Flash offense outperformed Harvard in that first set, at least statistcally; SFU hit .280 in the first set, compared to the .160 hitting percentage of the Crimson.  That offensive advantage would become more apparent in the the subsequent sets as the Harvard offense was handled by the Flash defense with relative ease. 

Meanwhile, Saint Francis's offense fed off the energy and began to take control of the match.  Though they fell behind 10-5 to begin the second set, the Flash battled their way back and took the lead 15-14 on an Adam Roche (Cochranton, Pa./Cochranton) ace.  SFU would outscore Harvard 10-5 the rest of the way and ultimately took the set 25-19 on two consecutive Harvard errors.

It was a coast-to-coast win for the Red Flash in the third set, as the Flash took the lead 1-0 on a Markus Schulze (Berlin, Germany/Anne Frank) ace and cruised the rest of the way to a 25-19 win.  The offense was at its best in the third set, committing just two errors and hitting .500 in defeating the Crimson.

In the final set, the two teams battled closely until a Harvard service error broke a 13-12 deadlock.  Ryan Williams (Pittsburgh, Pa./Montour) and Roche followed with a block to make it 14-12 and the rout was on.  Coming off the bench were freshmen Adam Barba and Wally Savage, who each contributed two kills in pushing the Flash over the top by a score of 25-19.

Again, Patterson led the Red Flash with 14 kills and also added three digs, one ace, and one block.  Skarupa had 13 kills, one ace, one dig, and four blocks.  Freshman Colin Sherwin had 11 kills, one assist, one ace, five digs, and four blocks.  Williams led the team with 47 assists, and Schulze led with nine digs.