LORETTO, PA- Saint Francis starts a critical three-match road trip this weekend as they head to the Big Apple to take on the LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds and the St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers.
 
Saint Francis is coming off a home weekend that saw them on the wrong end of a pair of five-setters against Central Connecticut and Bryant. They come into the weekend at 3-6 in the Northeast Conference, two games in back of the final playoff spot.
 
PART OF A BALANCED ATTACK
The balanced attack of the Red Flash was back in full force against the Bulldogs and Blue Devils.
 
The overall star of the weekend offensively was Alexis Lambert (McKinney, Tx./McKinney-Boyd) who totaled 37 kills against 11 errors in the two matches. The sophomore now leads the NEC with 129 kills in conference play and is third in kills per set.
 
Madi Tyus (Plano, TX/Bishop Lynch) put together the first 20-kill, 20-dig game in nearly a decade for Saint Francis against CCSU and took home Rookie of the Week honors as a result.  She sits right behind Lambert with 123 kills in NEC play and is fifth in kills per set. Fellow freshman Nicole Adams (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa East) is one kill behind Tyus and sixth in the NEC.
 
Again, this speaks to the season that Amelia Metzler (Littleton, Colo./Chatfield) is having setting the ball. The senior leads the NEC in assists and assists per set despite not starting the first two matches of the conference season.
 
Defensively, the Red Flash continue to lead the NEC in digs, averaging nearly 18 per set. They were a little below that mark this past weekend, averaging about 16 digs against CCSU and Bryant. The SFU block also struggled, totaling 11 blocks in the 10 sets, well below their 1.7 block per set average. 
 
 ABOUT THE BLACKBIRDS
The Red Flash will certainly be tested out of the gate this weekend, getting their second shot at the undefeated LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds. The Red Flash haven't won at the Steinberg Wellness Center this millennium. The two schools went the full five sets in Loretto before LIU prevailed in the fifth set. The Red Flash will have to be resilient against a strong LIU defense that put up 106 digs in the five setter in the first match up and leads the league with over three blocks per set. Viktoria Fink leads the team and is fourth in the NEC in kills per set, she had 19 to lead the Blackbirds against the Red Flash.
 
ABOUT THE TERRIERS
The first go-around of the battle of Saint Francis was about as even as it could get. SFU prevailed in four sets, but each team scored exactly 100 points. The Terriers got nine aces in that match, including four from Mireya Ramirez, the Red Flash serve-receive will definitely be tested. Defensively, the Terriers averaged over 20 digs per set and Kizzy Rodriguez, who is fourth in the NEC in digs, averaged over seven digs per set in the match.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
Both matches this weekend will be streamed on NEC Front Row and both schools will feature live stats. All of the links can be found on the volleyball schedule page.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
Saint Francis wraps up the road portion of their schedule next weekend with a solo Friday match at Robert Morris. First serve from Moon Township is set for 7. p.m.