Flash Points:

• Saint Francis defeated Buffalo and Coppin State in Pittsburgh on Saturday.
• The Flash won the fourth and fifth sets to defeat Buffalo, 3-2, before sweeping Coppin State.
• Jenna Veres (Independence, Ohio/Padua Franciscan) had 29 digs against Buffalo, tied for sixth most in a match in school history.
• Sophia Esposito (Coraopolis, PA/Montour (Gardner-Webb)) had a solo block and five block assists in the first set against Coppin State.

PITTSBURGH – The Saint Francis women's volleyball team competed on the second day of the Duquesne/Robert Morris Invitational on Saturday. Saint Francis defeated Buffalo in five sets in a match played at Duquesne University. SFU then defeated Coppin State, 3-0, at Robert Morris.

Saint Francis vs. Buffalo (3-2: 18-25, 25-23, 22-25, 25-22, 15-10)
The Red Flash went back-and-forth with the Bulls through five sets, and the final decision went Saint Francis' way. SFU won the fourth and fifth sets to beat Buffalo, 3-2. Jenna Veres (Independence, Ohio/Padua Franciscan) had 29 digs, tied for sixth most in school history in a single match. Kelsey Roush (Johnstown, Pa./Richland) had 15 kills and 13 digs, and Amelia Metzler (Littleton, Colo./Chatfield) had 39 assists and 13 digs.

After losing the first set, 25-18, SFU came back to win the second, 25-23. With the score tied at 17, Saint Francis scored the next five points. Emily Marcinowski (Strongsville, Ohio/Padua Franciscan) scored the first of those five points with a kill. She finished the match with eight kills and six digs. Roush scored to make it 24-19, but Buffalo responded with four straight points to make it 24-23. Faced with scoring or playing for extra points, Roush finished the set with another kill to tie the match at a set each.

Saint Francis held a 15-12 lead in the third set, but Buffalo responded with a 10-3 run to take control of the set. Breanna Opera (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster ) had two kills to make it 24-22, but Buffalo scored the next point to win the set. Opera finished with 13 kills.

SFU had to win in the fourth set to keep the match alive, and that's exactly what the Flash managed to do. SFU scored six straight points to take an early 9-6 lead. Metzler and Sophia Esposito (Coraopolis, PA/Montour (Gardner-Webb)) had kills and Sophie Murdock (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion ) chipped in with a service ace. Esposito had three kills, a solo block and three block assists while Murdock had 13 kills, a block solo and three block assists. SFU didn't trail again in the set, and Opera punctuated the set with a kill for a 25-22 SFU victory that forced game five.

The Red Flash used an 8-2 run to turn a 6-5 deficit into a 13-8 lead in the fifth. Marcinowski had two kills and Metzler had an ace in that period. With the fifth set played to just 15, the Red Flash capped the match victory with kills from Esposito and Roush to win, 15-10.

Amanda Schiavo (Moon Township, Pa./Moon Area (Bowling Green)) had 11 digs for the Red Flash. Veres' 29 digs now gives her three of the top ten digs totals for a single match in school history.

Saint Francis vs. Coppin State (3-0: 25-18, 25-20, 25-21)
The Red flash capped the weekend's competition against Coppin State at Robert Morris with a 3-0 sweep.

Trailing 15-11 in the first set, SFU chipped away at the lead with kills from Murdock and Marcinowski. Down 16-15, the Red Flash decided to throw a block party, hosted by Esposito and Metzler. After Esposito had a solo block to tie the score at 16, Metzler joined her for three straight block assists to give SFU a 19-16 lead. Esposito chipped in on one more block with Murdock later in the set to help SFU to a 25-18 victory. Esposito had a solo block and five block assists in the first set. Marcinowski had four kills and four digs while hitting .429. SFU held Coppin State to -.023 hitting in the set.

SFU used a 7-1 run to break open a 6-6 tie in the second set. Marcinowski and Roush each had two kills on that streak. Coppin State didn't threaten SFU through the remainder of game two as the Flash hit .324 in that set. Roush had five of the team's 14 kills in the set while hitting .364.

Coppin State scored four of the first five points in game three, but Saint Francis came back to take a 13-7 lead thanks to two kills each from Esposito, Murdock and Roush. Coppin State pushed back and cut the deficit to as few as two at 23-21, but the Flash went on to win the third set, 25-21.

For the match, SFU hit .259 to Coppin State's .066. Veres led the way with 18 digs, and Roush had a team-high 10 kills. Marcinowski had 11 digs and Metzler had 10.

Saint Francis is back in action next weekend the University of Toledo's ASICS Invitational.