LORETTO, Pa. (April 9, 2011) – Saint Francis suffered its third-straight EIVA setback on Saturday night, this time to Sacred Heart of the Hay Division, 3-2 (28-30, 28-26, 25-19, 16-25, 16-14), at DeGol Arena. The Red Flash won the first and fourth sets to force a fifth, but the Pioneers rallied to take the tie-breaker, 16-14.
SFU alternated strong offensive performances with anemic ones, hitting .417, .400 and .474 in sets one, three and four, while converting at .188 and .062 clips in the second and fifth sets. The Flash were paced by Logan Patterson who racked up 17 kills.
Alex Kane (York, Pa./West York) and
Adam Roche (Cochranton, Pa./Cochranton) each fired 10.
Enzo Mackenzie led the Pioneers with 23 kills, while Tim Sadowski registered a match-high 56 assists.
Saint Francis pulled out a, 30-28, win in the first set after a wild finish featuring seven potential set points. Patterson led the way with four kills while
Ryan Williams (Pittsburgh, Pa./Montour) added in 14 sets. Both teams combined for 14 service errors in the set.
A tight 28-26 second set fell to Sacred Heart on an SFU hitting error, negating a spirited Flash comeback. Saint Francis trailed from the outset until taking a 23-22 edge before the Pioneers went on their winning drive. Kane led the Flash with five kills, finishing one short of SHU's Enzo.
The Pioneers made quick work of Saint Francis in the third set, winning 25-19. SFU trailed by as many as eight in the match, despite hitting a deceptive .400. The Flash fired only nine kills in the set.
The fourth set was the mirror image of the third, this time falling in the favor of SFU. Head coach Michael Rumbaugh ran out a new-look lineup that yielded immediate results as the Flash wound up with their highest hitting percentage of the evening (.474). The Pioneers hit a mere .083 in the set.
In the fifth, Saint Francis came out on fire, jumping out to a 10-5 advantage. Led, once again, by Mackenzie the Pioneers hit an efficient .385 on their way to the win. SHU outscored the Flash 9-to-4 down the stretch.
Saint Francis returns to action on Friday when it visits IPFW for a 7 p.m. contest.
