Men’s Volleyball Travels to Chicago to Battle Two Ranked Opponents
Bobby Dragon
Men's Volleyball Travels to Chicago to Battle Two Ranked Opponents
Flash Points:
- Saint Francis faces No. 11 Lewis on Friday and No. 7 Loyola Chicago on Saturday.
- Both matches are set to start at 7 p.m.
- Live stats and video will be provided for both matches. Saturday's match will be broadcasted on ESPN3.
Loretto, Pa- The Saint Francis men's volleyball team travels to the Windy City for a pair of non-conference matches against No. 11 Lewis University and No. 7 Loyola Chicago. Both matches are scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.
Saint Francis, led by head coach
Mike Rumbaugh, enters the City of the Big Shoulders with a 4-2 overall record. Last weekend, SFU swept both games as they defeated Alderson Broaddus on Friday and Mount Olive on Saturday in three sets.
Block Party
SFU starts the season with a 4-2 overall record,
Keith Kegerreis (Chambersburg, Pa./Chambersburg) leads the way on the defensive side with a total of 25 blocks. His defensive contribution granted him EIVA Defensive Player of the Week and a top 5 ranking in the EIVA conference in blocks.
Shoveling Their Way to the Top
Redshirt Sophomore
Joseph Koszelak (North Tonawanda, N.Y./St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute), Redshirt Senior
Stephen Braswell (Manchester, Pa./Northeastern), and Freshman
Ryan Alu (Pipersville, PA/Central Bucks West HS) all rank within the top of the EIVA in digs with a total of 105 combined digs. Koszelak currently leads the way in the EVIA ranking with 38 digs.
Licensed to Kill
Cole Thompson (Los Alamitos, Calif./Los Alamitos) paces the Red Flash offense to begin the year as he has a total of 70 kills. He is currently ranked number one in the EIVA in kills as well as kills per set with 3.50. Braswell and
Brandon Buck (Baden, Pa./Ambridge) follow Thompson as they are tied in third with 53 kills.
About The Flyers
The Flyers are 1-3 overall on the year and are ranked No. 11 in the latest AVCA poll. To begin the year, Lewis fell to No. 5 UC Irvine in three close sets while also dropping a four set match to No. 6 BYU. Last weekend, the Flyers faced off against No. 2 Long Beach State and fell in three sets before they bounced back to take three sets from George Mason.
LUC has six players who rank double-digits in kills, as Ryan Coenen leads the way with 46 kills while posting a .230 hitting percentage. He is ranked fifth in the MIVA conference in kills. Mitch Perinar follows behind with 20 kills. Jake Walenga is contributing on both sides of the net for the Flyers with 65 assists along with 17 digs. The middle blockers have a total of 45 blocks on the season.
About the Ramblers
The Loyola Chicago Ramblers enter this weekend with a 2-2 overall record and is ranked No. 7 in the AVCA coaches' poll. The Ramblers opened the 2018 season with two wins against No. 6 BYU and George Mason before dropping two against No. 5 UC Irvine and No. 2 Long Beach State. Loyola is led by Junior Colin Mahan who has 55 kills along with 25 digs. He is ranked second in the MIVA in kills. Freshman Garrett Zolg leads the Ramblers and the MIVA conference in digs with 38 while positing a team high 158 assist. Paul Narup and Jeff Jendrk have contributed to Loyola's success on the defensive side with 14 of the teams 57 blocks.
Series Record
Saint Francis currently trails the series against Lewis, 2-19, and Loyola-Chicago, 2-13. The Flash dropped both matches in three sets last year.
Follow Along
Live stats and video will be provided for both matches. Saturday's matchup against Loyola-Chicago will be broadcasted on ESPN3. Information and links can be found on the men's volleyball schedule page.
Next Time Out
Saint Francis will continue its tough stretch of games as they will travel to Columbus, Ohio to take on the reigning two-time national champions Ohio State on Thursday at 7 p.m. The Flash will then travel back to Loretto to begin its eight game home stand against the Queens University of Charlotte at 8:30 p.m. on Friday.
