LORETTO, PA- The Red Flash will honor a pair of seniors and a graduating junior this weekend as they close out the regular season with Sacred Heart and Fairleigh Dickinson.
 
Saint Francis will honor seniors Amelia Metzler (Littleton, Colo./Chatfield) and Christa White (Rochester, N.Y./Spencerport) and graduating junior Elise Dumouchelle (Ashburn, Va./Broad Run) in a pre-game ceremony before Saturday's match with FDU. Please note the change in game times for this weekend, Friday's match will be at 4:30 against Sacred Heart with FDU having a first serve at 5 p.m. on Saturday.
 
The Red Flash enter the weekend at 3-9 in conference play while Sacred Heart is 7-5 and FDU is 0-12. The Pioneers have secured their spot in the NEC playoffs and will be either the three or the four seed depending on the outcomes this weekend.
 
THANK YOU SENIORS
Amelia Metzler (Littleton, Colo./Chatfield) has had a solid senior season. The setter leads the NEC in total assists and assists per set in league play, averaging just under 10 per set. Dumouchelle has been a valuable weapon in the service game, ripping 16 aces on the season, second-most on the team. Christa White (Rochester, N.Y./Spencerport) will be making her first appearance of the season on her senior night after missing the season with a knee injury. In her career, White has averaged a kill and a half and nearly a block per set. The Red Flash will also say good bye to graduate student Sophia Esposito (Coraopolis, PA/Montour (Gardner-Webb)), who came back for a fifth year this season. "Espo" has been a leader on the block for the Red Flash, ranking fifth in total blocks this season in NEC play and ninth in blocks per set. She leads the team with 59 total blocks this season.
 
THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT
While the Red Flash look to close the year strong and say goodbye to a talented senior class,  the production the team has gotten out of the underclassmen is extremely encouraging for the seasons to come. Sophomore Alexis Lambert (McKinney, Tx./McKinney-Boyd) has built off her freshman season to be one of the premiere attackers in the Northeast Conference.  Lambert is second in the NEC in total kills with 160 in conference play and fourth in kills per set. Lambert has been flanked by a pair of freshmen in Nicole Adams (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa East) and Madi Tyus (Plano, TX/Bishop Lynch). Tyus sits fourth in the NEC in total kills and sixth in kills per set while Adams sits sixth and seventh, respectfully.
 
Add in that freshman defensive specialist Jess Barrett (Broadview Heights, OH/North Royalton) sits second in digs in the NEC and Tyus ranks 10^th, the Red Flash will bring back a vast majority of their talent from this past season.
 
ABOUT THE PIONEERS
As mentioned above, the Pioneers have eliminated any drama for the last weekend, clinching the final playoff spot last weekend. SHU defeated the Red Flash in three sets in their first meeting this season with freshman Sarah Ciszek recording a triple double (kills-sets-assists) in the win. Ciszek leads the NEC in hitting percentage while ranking behind only Metzler in assists. Liisel Nelis has been the prime beneficiary of Ciszek's setting, leading the NEC in total kills.
 
 
ABOUT THE KNIGHTS
Fairleigh Dickinson enters the weekend in search of their first win in conference play. FDU is solid defensive team. They average nearly 16 digs and two blocks per set. Leading the defensive charge is Kaiti Quaintance, who is seventh in the NEC in blocks at nearly one per set. Freshman Jaelyn Young leads the Knights in digs, posting an average of over 3.5 per set, good for seventh in the NEC.
 
 
FOLLOW ALONG
Both matches will be streamed on NEC Front Row with Matt Popelka on the call. Live Stats will also be available for both matches and you can follow @RedFlashVB for in-game highlights and updates.