SETTING THE STAGE
Saint Francis continues its home stretch this weekend with matches against Pfeiffer and Erskine. Each match begins at 7:00 p.m. at DeGol Arena.

SCOUTING THE RED FLASH
Saint Francis is in the midst of a seven-of-eight game home stretch that continues against Pfeiffer and Erskine this weekend. Last weekend, the Red Flash took a set against No. 12 Penn State for the first time in three years before falling 3-1. On Sunday, SFU swept Mount Olive, 3-0, to even its record at 3-3. Redshirt senior Mark Kochan (Towaco, N.J./Seton Hall Prep) took home EIVA Defensive Player of the Week honors, while Logan Patterson (Derry, Pa./Derry Area) had 20 kills at Penn State.  

SCOUTING PFEIFFER
Pfeiffer evened its record to .500 on Wednesday night, defeating Belmont Abbey 3-1 in a Conference Carolinas showdown.  The win is the third-straight for the Falcons, evens the their season record to 3-3 and improves their conference record to 2-1. Sophomore Sonny Hirini has been on a tear this season, racking up double-figure kills in every single game this season.  He led all players in the Belmont match with 15 total kills and one dig shy of a double-double.

SCOUTING ERSKINE
Sophomore setter Corey Marks currently ranks first in the nation in assists per set while teammates Mike Michelau and Mike Kawa both rank in the top 10 nationally in kills per set.  The Fleet also have a third offensive weapon in freshman Roberto Perez Vargas, who is quietly putting together a fine season.  Vargas currently is eleventh in the league in kills per set.

LAST WEEKEND...
LORETTO, Pa. – The Saint Francis men's volleyball team bounced back from a quick turnaround to sweep the Mount Olive Trojans 25-19, 25-16 and 25-16 to move the Red Flash's record to 3-3 on the young season.

The Red Flash jumped ahead 6-2 in the first set on the strength of an ace and two kills by Kyle Beatty (Saegertown, Pa./Saegertown). Beatty had six kills in seven attempts for an .857 hitting percentage. Mark Kochan (Towaco, N.J./Seton Hall Prep) was a perfect 4-for-4 on attempts in the first game, including scoring the last two points of the set to give SFU the game win. The Flash hit .600 in game one. Beatty finished the match with 13 kills in 16 attempts (.750) while Kochan was a perfect 8-for-8 on attacks.

With Logan Patterson (Derry, Pa./Derry Area) serving early in the second set, the Flash rattled off five straight points, capped by the first of Patterson's two aces on the day. The Trojans (1-6) pulled to within 11-8, but the Flash scored seven of the next 10 points to put the second game out of reach. Beatty had one of his two aces during the stretch. SFU hit .579 during the set while holding Mount Olive to a .042 attack percentage.

The third game was tied at 10-10, but an 8-2 Red Flash run sealed the deal for the three-game sweep. Mike Kresch had kills on consective Saint Francis points as the Flash pushed the lead to 18-12. Kochan and Beatty alternated points on a 4-0 run later in the set, including an ace for Kochan. The Flash out hit the Trojans .778 to .190 in the final set. SFU finished with five aces on the afternoon. Kresch joined Kochan with a 1.000 hitting percentage on five attempts while dishing out 29 assists. SFU hit .645 for the match to Mount Olive's .186.