Box Score
Postgame interview with Rumbaugh

LORETTO, Pa. (Feb. 26, 2012) – On a Sunday afternoon in Loretto, the Saint Francis University men's volleyball team took down Grand Canyon in a lengthy five sets (28-30, 28-26, 21-25, 25-23, 15-10).

In today's non-conference bout against Grand Canyon (11-7), head coach Mike Rumbaugh started a majority of his reserve players. Nonetheless the Red Flash (8-8) came right out of the gate and battled with the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association member Antelopes. SFU looked strong at the start, building up a 12-7 lead before GCU tied the score at 19. Back-to-back blocks by the Flash forced Grand Canyon to call a timeout with the score set at 21-19. These two squads would need extra time to settle the first set. Two final kills by the Lopes lifted them to the opening set win.

Falling behind early by three points, SFU struggled to catch up in the second set. Even with the slow start, the Flash made things interesting near the end, coming to within one point of the Lopes at 23-23. Thanks to two errors by the Antelopes the Flash pulled out the second set win 26-24 to draw even in the match.

Similar to Friday night's match against George Mason, the Flash found themselves down 2-1 heading into the fourth set but found resilience to capture the fourth set and force the match into five sets. Down 4-2 in the final set, the Red Flash went on a six point run to solidify their hopes at taking the set and match. Grand Canyon attempted a comeback but it would not be enough to overrun the Red Flash. A high energy kill from Logan Patterson (Derry, Pa./Derry Area) gave SFU the set and match victory.

Patterson came into the match late but still registered a team-best 14 kills on just five attack errors. Colin Sherwin (Greensburg, Pa./Greater Latrobe) and Dominik Stork also recorded double-digits in kills, Sherwin also with 14 and Stork picked up a career-high 11. Sophomore Michael Krepp (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) dished out a career-high 50 assists in the five set takedown and added 11 digs for his first collegiate double-double. Nicholas Bancroft recorded a season and match-best 16 digs.

Saint Francis welcomes No. 8 Ohio State to Loretto this Friday night for a 7 p.m. matchup at DeGol Arena.