SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (Jan. 8, 2015) – The Saint Francis U men's volleyball team fell in its season opener on the road at UC Santa Barbara in three sets. 

The Red Flash hung with the No. 4 Gauchos in sets one and three, with scores of 25-22 in each set, but struggled during the second set falling to a score of 25-14.

"Losing in three sets is disappointing, but we showed that we were able to hang with the No. 4 ranked team in the country. Of course we are not happy with a loss to open the season, but I liked that we were able to showcase some of our best play in game one," said 17-year head coach Mike Rumbaugh.

Santa Barbara scored the first point of the match and despite there being three ties throughout the set, the Flash never held a lead. The biggest Gauchos lead came midway through the set at 17-12, causing a Red Flash timeout. SFU then scored six out of the next eight points bringing them within one, capped off with a kill from Daniel Ford (Newtown, Pa./Council Rock North).

UCSB recorded the next two points, including a service ace, then each team traded points back and forth until the end of the set.

"We had three freshman receive tonight against the best serving team in the country and I was impressed with how poised they played," Rumbaugh continued.

In set two, Santa Barbara took a commanding 12-7 lead to open the frame, forcing another Saint Francis timeout. Out of the break, UCSB had a service error and then scored two more points before SFU's Mike Marshman (Glenmont, N.Y./Bethlehem Central) responded with one of his team-high eight kills.

The Gauchos reclaimed composure and finished the set off strong only allowing the Flash to score another four points.

Santa Barbara jumped out to a quick 6-1 lead in the third set, before Saint Francis was able to get going. SFU battled back to within two points after a block by Marshman and Brandon Buck (Baden, Pa./Ambridge). UCSB was unfazed and went on to score the next five points to lead 15-8.

The Gauchos held a 24-18 point lead late in the set, before the Red Flash rattled off four unanswered points, highlighted by three attacking errors forced by Marshman. The late run for Saint Francis put a scare into UCSB, but they scored the match ending point on the next play.

Second on the team in kills was Jeff Hogan (Northern Cambria, Pa./Northern Cambria) with seven to go along with a team-high five digs. He also had the lone service ace for SFU. Marshman finished hitting .429 and lead the team in blocks with one solo and four assisted.

Freshman Keith Kegerreis (Chambersburg, Pa./Chambersburg) led the team in hitting percentage with a .600 clip as he had three kills in five total attempts. Ford finished the match with 25 assists.

The Red Flash returns to the court tomorrow at 1 p.m. in a neutral site match against No. 13 California State North Ridge.