Rhode Island Box Score
Duquesne Box Score

Pittsburgh, Pa. (Aug. 26, 2011) – The Saint Francis University women's volleyball team opened the 2011 season at the Duquesne Tournament with a pair of 0-3 losses at the hands of Rhode Island and Duquesne. Set scores against Rhode Island finished as (13-25, 23-25, 13-25) and (19-25, 20-25, 10-25) to Duquesne.

It was a rough opening set for the Red Flash (0-2) as they could not seem to develop a style of rhythm or flow against Rhode Island (1-0). The second set began just as the first with the Rams looking to pull ahead early. Saint Francis however, mounted a charge to come back in the match and nearly pulled out the second set victory. A combination of errors and a lack of control on their side of the net led to the slow start.

“This certainly is not the way we wanted to start, we made too many mistakes on our side of the net,” head coach Chuck Mullen said. “We didn't give ourselves a chance to be in the match because of the errors. We have to learn to play together, trust each other and control things on our side of the net in order to be successful.”

Team co-captain Lauren Wingard (York, Pa./Dallastown Area) led the Flash with eight kills in the first match, while sophomore Logan Meinert (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny) led in assists by producing 21 and sophomore libero Brittany Stambaugh (Leola, Pa./Conestoga Valley) posted nine digs.

The second match of the evening versus Duquesne (2-0) started out very well for the Red Flash. Both teams played very evenly, pulling each other back and forth throughout the first two sets. Unfortunately for Saint Francis, they could not carry the aggressive style of play they had developed early in the match into the third set.

“We did some better things in this match but sustained momentum and intensity are still issues that we're working on,” Mullen said. “We were a bit more aggressive but until we can reduce errors we're not going to get the desired results.”

Wingard again led the team in kills in the second match with an identical number of eight, however freshman Kayla Jeckell (Mountaintop, Pa./Crestwood) finished right behind her by producing seven kills in her first collegiate match. Meinert got a second start in a row as the team's primary setter and posted 23 assists against the Dukes. Stambaugh picked up 12 digs, with junior Amanda Zahumensky (Sarver, Pa./Freeport Area) following closely behind recording 11 digs.

Saint Francis continues its stay at the two-day Duquesne Tournament tomorrow beginning at 10 a.m. against Howard, and concluding with a 4 p.m. matchup versus Marist.