LORETTO, Pa. – The Saint Francis men's volleyball team downed No. 12 Loyola University Chicago, 3-2, in a five-set thriller on Friday night at DeGol Arena. The Flash won the match, 25-21, 28-26, 18-25, 23-25 and 15-13.
 
The Flash improves to 14-7 overall, while the Ramblers fall to 14-6 on the season.
 
Saint Francis had three players record double digit kills. Leading the way for the Flash was Jeff Hogan (Northern Cambria, Pa./Northern Cambria) with 15, Brandon Buck (Baden, Pa./Ambridge) with 11 and Stephen Braswell (Manchester, Pa./Northeastern) with 10. Adam Kniffen (Latrobe, Pa./Greater Latrobe) collected 46 assists, while Gabe Woffindin (Allentown, Pa./William Allen) recorded a team-high 16 digs.
 
In the fifth and final set, Saint Francis lead, 5-1, highlighted by three kills by Hogan. With the Flash leading 10-8, the Ramblers rattled off two straight points to tie the score at 10-10, and caused SFU to call a timeout. Saint Francis closed out the set and the match on a 4-0 run to win, 15-13.
 
In the opening set, the Flash jumped out to a 10-5 advantage. LUC would cut the SFU lead to two at 22-20, but a Buck service aces gave the Flash the set, 25-21.
 
The Flash had to rally in the second set, with Loyola leading 17-14. Saint Francis went on a 5-0 run to lead, 19-17. All the Flash needed was one more point to take the second set, but the Ramblers would not go out quietly. LUC scored four unanswered points to tie the score at 24-24. The Flash scored the final two points to take the second set, 28-26.
 
Loyola took a commanding 13-6 lead in the third set, and did not look back. The Ramblers would end up taking the set, 25-18.
 
The Ramblers opened the fourth set on a 6-2 run for an early lead. Saint Francis would rally to tie the score at 10-10. LUC would take a 20-15 lead, but SFU would string together a 6-0 run to lead, 21-20. Loyola would outscore Saint Francis, 5-2, for the rest of the set to win, 25-23.
 
The Flash travels to NJIT and Princeton this weekend for a pair of conference matches.