Box Score

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (April 21, 2012) – Needing a win to stay alive in the postseason hunt, the Saint Francis University men's volleyball team dropped a 3-0 decision to the top ranked team in the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association, Penn State, Saturday night.

The Red Flash (12-15, 7-7 EIVA) had a hold onto the final fourth playoff spot until Princeton defeated George Mason in five sets earlier in the day, to force SFU to beat the No. 7 Nittany Lions (21-5, 14-0) for a spot in the EIVA tournament.

Despite holding PSU to just a .179 attack percentage in the opening set, Saint Francis struggled in closing out a win to begin the match. With the score set at 14-14 it was the Nittany Lions who finished strong in the opener, collecting six of the next eight points scored. The Red Flash called a timeout as the set drew nearer to a close and tallied a few more points but Penn State had put too much of a gap between them at that point to comeback from.

Set number two was more of a comfortable win for Penn State. The Flash picked up the sets first point but from that point on Penn State tied things at 1-1, took the lead and had it for the rest of the set. The Nittany Lions built up a seven point lead near the end when a final kill from Ryan Wolf gave PSU the 25-17 second set victory that put them up 2-0 in the match. The third and final set was as tight of a battle as the match had seen. Both teams went back and forth on scoring opportunities. Near the end of the set the Flash had come to within one point of the Nittany Lions at 23-22 but Penn State proved why they had an undefeated conference record and shut the door from allowing SFU to mount a charge past them.

Logan Patterson (Derry, Pa./Derry Area) was the only member of the Red Flash to finish with a double digit mark in kills with his 11 and a .556 attack percentage. Kyle Beatty (Meadville, PA/Saegertown) dug seven balls to lead the team. Playing in their last games as a Red Flash, Alex Kane (York, Pa./West York) recorded a team-high four total blocks while Ryan Williams (Pittsburgh, Pa./Montour) dished out 21 assists.

Saint Francis finishes its season with a 12-15 overall record and an even 7-7 mark in EIVA action. All-conference award winners will be announced next week.