Box Score

LORETTO, Pa. (Sept. 6, 2011) – The Saint Francis University women's volleyball team fought to its second win of the season Tuesday night at DeGol Arena, downing Delaware State 3-2 (25-8, 25-20, 23-25, 23-25, 15-3).

“This was a total team effort tonight, we got a lot of productivity out of a lot of people and sometimes you need that to win,” head coach Chuck Mullen said. “It's the ultimate team sport and this team showed that tonight. I'm proud of them for the comeback and the aggressiveness that we had no matter who was in there.”

Saint Francis (2-6) got off to a dominant start in the opening set of play, gaining an 11-2 lead over the Hornets (0-4) before Delaware State called its first timeout of the match. The Red Flash continued its strong play throughout the remainder of the first set, never allowing the Hornets to pick up any type of momentum. Saint Francis put down 14 kills for an impressive .545 team hitting percentage with sophomore Breanna Kochinsky (Nicktown, Pa./Northern Cambria) sending the match into the second set, registering the set ending kill.

The Hornets kept things close in the second set taking a 7-6 lead early on and battled with the Flash back and forth as the set continued. Things seemed to begin falling in the home team's favor halfway through the set, when junior middle blocker Elizabeth Williams (North Bend, Ohio/Saint Ursula) sent a Hornets rally back over for the Red Flash kill. SFU gained a 23-20 advantage as the set neared its end and closed it out from there for the two sets to none lead heading into the third set.

Delaware State pulled away as the third set got underway, gaining a 9-6 advantage a third of the way through. Kochinsky then fired a bullet from setter Logan Meinert (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny) to get the Flash back on track in the set. From there, Saint Francis and DSU showed an even style of play from all sides of the court. With Delaware State leading 18-17, a long standing rally between both squads ended in the fortune of Saint Francis when Williams put down a strike into the open area of the court to tie the set at 18. However, Delaware State ended with the upper hand when the set finished at 25-23.

The fourth set began like the first with domination by one side, but this time on the part of the visitors as they jumped out to an early 9-2 lead before Mullen called a timeout. The Red Flash clawed its way back from a 19-10 deficit by way of sophomore Danielle Reese (Port Matilda, Pa./Bald Eagle Area)'s consecutive serving run of eight to pull SFU to within one of the Hornets. Saint Francis managed a dramatic come back to tie the set at 23, before Delaware State put away the final two points that gave them the fourth set victory and evened the match at two sets a piece.

Saint Francis opened a 7-3 lead halfway through the final set thanks to two strikes in a row from junior Lauren Wingard (York, Pa./Dallastown Area) and two soft tips placed perfectly in the open court by Meinert. SFU pulled away at that point, going on to win the set 15-3 and the match 3-2.

Mullen threw a few new faces into the mix in tonight's match to try and spark some life into the team in the later sets. Reese and freshman Steph Basile (Cresson, Pa./Penn Cambria) got in on the scoring action for the first time this season as they both picked up two kills on the night. Reese also added seven digs to her stat sheet while Basile recorded her first collegiate kill.

Both Williams and Wingard made their fourth trip of the season into double-digit figures in kills, as Williams racked up a season-high 14 and Wingard added 11 to her team-leading season total. Meinert registered her second highest assist total thus far, coming two shy of surpassing the mark of 49 she posted against Marist in the team's opening weekend of action. Leading the defensive charge for the Flash were junior Amanda Zahumensky (Sarver, Pa./Freeport Area), who recorded 13 digs, and Kochinsky who finished just one behind.

Saint Francis hopes to keep the momentum rolling when they travel to Lynchburg, Va. this Friday to face Cal State Bakersfield at 5 p.m. and Liberty at 7:30 p.m. at the Liberty Tournament.