LORETTO, PA- Saint Francis rallied to force a fifth set, but fell 15-12 in the fifth to the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights on Saturday at DeGol Arena.
The Red Flash fell 23-25, 25-20, 11-25, 25-23, 12-15 to fall to 1-3 in Northeast Conference play.
Hannah Kutny (Clifton Park, N.Y./Catholic Central) led a balanced Red Flash offense with 14 kills while
Sophie Murdock (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion ) added nine and
Breanna Opera (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster ) eight for SFU.
Jenna Veres (Independence, Ohio/Padua Franciscan) led all players with a match-high 24 digs while
Maria Cup (Chesterland, Ohio/Gilmour Academy) added 2.5 blocks to pace the defense.
FDU used hot-hitting to pull away midway through the first set. The Knights ran off five of six points to break open an 8-8 tie. The Flash roared back with a strong service game.
Amelia Metzler (Littleton, Colo./Chatfield) fired a trio of aces to tie the set and give SFU a 20-18 lead. SFU finished with eight aces on the match. The Knight would rally to tie the match at 20 and later at 23 on a kill from Rebecca Sabol, she had a match-high 25 kills, who added a second kill to help give FDU the first set.
Breanna Opera (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster ) had six of her eight kills in set two as SFU hit a strong .278 in the set to take it 25-20. The Flash ran off five of six points midway through the set to erase an early Knights' lead. SFU built up a lead as big as 19-13 on kills from
Maria Cup (Chesterland, Ohio/Gilmour Academy) and Opera only to see FDU rally to within one. A kill by
Sophie Murdock (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion ) stopped the run and a kill from
Emily Marcinowski (Strongsville, Ohio/Padua Franciscan) and a service error gave the set to the Flash.
The Knights made quick work of set three, winning nine of the first 12 points and building the lead to 17-5 before a Flash rally.
Amanda Schiavo (Moon Township, Pa./Moon Area (Bowling Green)) had an ace as part of a four-point run for the Flash. But FDU would prove too much in the set, winning the final five points to take it 25-11.
Set four looked to be on a similar path, winning five straight points to build a 14-9 lead over the Flash. After a timeout, SFU began to mount a comeback. It would be the defense that paced the Flash, as
Maria Cup (Chesterland, Ohio/Gilmour Academy) had two straight solo blocks and teamed with
Chelsea Easter (Burlington, Ontario, Canada/Notre Dame Roman Catholic) on a third to tie the match at 19.
Kelsey Roush (Johnstown, Pa./Richland) had a key ace down the stretch an Easter a big kill as the Flash forced set five with a 25-23 set four win.
Both teams hit well in the fifth set. It was Saint Francis that had the hot hand early. Cup had two kills and Roush and Metzler each with one as SFU led 9-5. The Knights would rally, winning four of five points to pull one at 11-10.
Sophie Murdock (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion ) had a kill to give SFU a 12-10 lead only to see the Knights serve out the match. FDU won the final five points to take set five and the match 15-12.
The loss moves SFU to 3-16 on the season and 1-3 in the NEC while FDU moves to 7-10 and matches the Flash at 1-3 in conference. Saint Francis will look to rebound on Sunday against Sacred Heart. Match time from DeGol Arena is set for 1pm.
