SMITHFIELD, RI- Saint Francis volleyball begins Northeast Conference play and closes out its lengthy road trip to start the season as SFU takes on Bryant on Friday night and Central Connecticut on Saturday night.
 
The Red Flash have played all 13 of their matches away from DeGol Arena to start the season, a number that will rise to 15 by week's end.
 
"I think starting NEC play on the road is a bit of an advantage for us," head coach Sara McMullen said. "With having such a young team and us being on the road all through non-conference, it's all we've known, we get to keep the same routine."
 
The start of NEC play will not be easy as Bryant and Central Connecticut are two playoff teams from last season, each finishing at 11-3 in NEC play. SFU split with the Bulldogs last year, with each winning on the other's home court. CCSU has won the last four meetings in the matchup, winning in straight sets and in four sets in the two matchups last year.
 
ABOUT THE RED FLASH
The Red Flash will bring a balanced offense to NEC play with three players averaging over 2.5 kills per set. Madi Tyus (Plano, TX/Bishop Lynch) leads that charge, averaging 3.33 kills per set, good for second in the conference. Tyus and Alexis Lambert (McKinney, Tx./McKinney-Boyd) both are averaging over 2.5 kills and digs per set. Tyus and Jess Barrett (Broadview Heights, OH/North Royalton) are the only players over three digs per set, with Barrett's 3.81 digs per set good for fifth in the NEC.
 
ABOUT THE BULLDOGS
At 9-7 on the season, the Bulldogs sport the best non-conference record in the Northeast Conference. They sport the conference's best offense and the second-best defense. Julia Flynn is second in the NEC in kills, averaging close to 3.5 kills per set. Her and Caroline Kennedy average over three kills per set while hitting 230. The Red Flash will have to watch for a balanced Bulldog defense that has five players with at least 14 blocks on the season.
 
ABOUT THE BLUE DEVILS
The Blue Devils come into the weekend at 3-8 on the season, but like the Red Flash have yet to play a home match. CCSU sports the stingiest defense in the NEC through non-conference play as they are the only team to hold teams below a 200 hitting percentage. They have done it by being second in the NEC at over 15 digs per set and tops in blocks at over 2.4 per set. Gala Galabova leads the NEC at 1.2 blocks per set but seven players have at least 15 blocks on the season. Madelyn Kaprelyan leads the team at 2.8 kills per set and her and Galabova rank in the top 10 in the conference in hitting percentage.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
Friday's game at Bryant starts at 6 p.m. with the CCSU contest starting on Saturday at four. Both matches will have live stats and be streamed on NEC Front Row. All links can be found on the volleyball schedule page.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
The Red Flash finally return home as they welcome in in-state rival Robert Morris on Friday night. First serve on the 28^th is set for 7 p.m.