Flash Points:
- Thursday's match marked the opening of the 2018 season.
- Cole Thompson (Los Alamitos, Calif./Los Alamitos) recorded a team-high with 14 kills.
- Joseph Koszelak (North Tonawanda, N.Y./St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute) contributed with 35 assists.
Riverside, Calif.- The Saint Francis men's volleyball team falls in the season opener 3-1 to #11 Cal State Northridge on Thursday night. The Red Flash falls to 0-1 on the season.
"It was a rough start, the ball control was a little out of sync tonight, but that is January volleyball in California," said head coach
Mike Rumbaugh. "As the season goes on and we start playing more together, things will get better."
Cole Thompson (Los Alamitos, Calif./Los Alamitos) led the Flash with 14 kills while
Stephen Braswell (Manchester, Pa./Northeastern) followed with 11.
Brandon Buck (Baden, Pa./Ambridge) also contributed 10 kills on 23 attempts.
Joseph Koszelak (North Tonawanda, N.Y./St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute) dished out 35 assists.
Both teams exchanged points early in the opening set. The Matadors would eventually gain control and jump out to a 16-12 lead, causing a Flash timeout. However, CSUN took advantage of the timeout and extended its lead to 20-14 and came away with the opening set, 25-21.
The Red Flash opened the second set up with a 4-0 lead. They would eventually move to a 7-3 advantage after a
Brandon Buck (Baden, Pa./Ambridge) kill. CSUN then evened the score at 9 before both teams went back and forth, and the Red Flash took a 21-18 lead. With game point, the Matadors tied the game up at 24, to take the match into overtime. SFU would eventually pull away to win the second set, 31-29.
After a long second set, both teams exchanged points until CSUN pulled away with a 9-5 lead. As the Matadors sustained their lead, the Red Flash could not rally back and the Matadors took the third set, 25-17.
CSUN and SFU opened the fourth set battling back and forth until the Matadors jumped out to a 14-8 lead to force a SFU timeout. The Red Flash eventually cut the lead to 21-19, but that wasn't enough as the Matadors took the set and the game, 25-20.
The Red Flash look to get into the win column on Saturday as they take on Stanford University at 1 p.m. and the host, UC Santa Barbara at 11 p.m.
