Flash Points:

• Friday's matches marked the opening of the 2016 season.
• SFU lost to NJIT in straight sets before losing to Quinnipiac in four games.
• Senior Breanna Opera (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster ) had 28 kills in two matches, and junior Jenna Veres (Independence, Ohio/Padua Franciscan) had 46 digs.
• Junior Kelsey Roush (Johnstown, Pa./Richland) recorded double-digit digs in both matches.
• SFU plays two more matches on Saturday in Philadelphia.

PHILADELPHIA – The Saint Francis women's volleyball team opened it 2016 season Friday with a pair of matches at the La Salle Invitational. Saint Francis started the day with a loss to NJIT in three sets before dropping a four-set decision to Quinnipiac.

SFU vs. NJIT (0-3: 21-25, 18-25, 21-25)
Senior Breanna Opera (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster ) had 15 kills to pace the Red Flash offense while junior Jenna Veres (Independence, Ohio/Padua Franciscan) had 20 digs on the defensive side. Fellow junior Kelsey Roush (Johnstown, Pa./Richland) added 12 digs.

SFU (0-2) had a pair of 5-0 runs in the first game. Opera had two kills to start the run, and a finish by Christa White (Rochester, N.Y./Spencerport) pushed the Red Flash into an early 7-4 lead. Roush scored a point to start the second of those runs that finished with SFU holding a 14-13 lead. A 7-0 run from NJIT gave the Highlanders a 20-14 lead, but Sophia Esposito (Coraopolis, PA/Montour (Gardner-Webb)) responded with back-to-back points on assists from Amelia Metzler (Littleton, Colo./Chatfield).

Metzler finished with 20 assists. The Flash managed to pull to within 23-20, but NJIT scored two of the final three points to win the set.

NJIT led wire-to-wire in game two, but Opera and White each recorded an ace in the set. In the third, Emily Marcinowski (Strongsville, Ohio/Padua Franciscan) recorded all three of her kills as the Flash stayed within striking distance. A quick three-point stretch bookended by kills from Opera and Roush pulled SFU to within 22-21, but NJIT scored the final three points to take the match.

Esposito assisted on seven blocks. SFU held NJIT to a .093 hitting percentage.

SFU vs. Quinnipiac (1-3: 25-16, 17-25, 14-25, 22-25)
The Red Flash jumped quickly on the Bobcats and never trailed in the first game. Marcinowski had three of her 11 kills in that first game, while Opera had four of her team-high 13 kills. Roush also had three kills and an ace. SFU finished that game on a 9-3 run to win by its biggest lead of the set, 25-16. SFU hit .243 in the set while holding Quinnipiac to just a .026 attacking percentage.

Quinnipiac turned the tables in game two, jumping out to a 4-0 lead as it held an advantage for the entire set. Veres had eight digs in the set, while Metzler had nine assists and three digs.

Quinnipiac took a 2-1 lead in the match by hitting .571 in the third set. SFU couldn't keep up, hitting just .065. A 7-0 run midway through the set for the Bobcats turned it into a 17-9 lead.

SFU hit evenly with Quinnipiac in the fourth set, but the Bobcats used 14 more attack attempts to register five more kills than the Flash. Trailing 22-16, SFU pulled back into the set with a 4-0 stretch that included a kill and an ace from Marcinowski to make it 22-20. Opera had her final kill of the day to make it 23-21. Quinnipiac scored the final two points to win the match.

Metzler recorded 33 assists, and Veres had 26 digs.

Saint Francis plays two more times tomorrow in the La Salle Invitational. The Red Flash plays Morgan State at 10 a.m. and La Salle at 2:30 p.m.