Loretto, Pa.- The Saint Francis men's volleyball team (3-0) will continue its home swing with a pair of matches against No. 4 BYU (2-0) on Saturday and EIVA-rival Penn State (1-1) on Sunday. The first 125 students will receive thundersticks upon entering the gym for both games.
 
Sideline Cancer
Saturday's match against BYU will be the annual Sideline Cancer game which helps FUND a cure for pancreatic cancer, offers HOPE for those in need, CONNECT patients, families and communities, and raises AWARENESS of the necessity for a new direction of innovative research and treatment plans.
 
The Red Flash will honor the cause by wearing t-shirts during warm-ups as all proceeds will go towards cancer research and studies to help sideline cancer. Fan can also purchase t-shirts, which will be sold in the lobby outside the gym.
 
Weekend Schedule
Saturday, January 19
No. 4 BYU- 7:00 p.m. 
 
Sunday, January 20
Penn State- 4:00 p.m.
 
About the Cougars
BYU comes into Loretto with a 2-0 overall record after sweeping No.7 Ohio State and No.14 Ball State last weekend, which helped move the Cougars up to No.4 in the AVCA Top-15 Coaches poll. The defending Mountain Pacific Sports Federation champions are coming off a 22-7 record a season ago, losing six players from last year including All-American starters Price Jarman, Leo Durkin and Brendan Sander. The match Saturday will be the second meeting between BYU and the Red Flash, with the first being a 3-1 victory for the Cougars back in 2010. 
 
In last weekend's sweep, sophomore opposite hitter Gabi Garcia Fernandez nabbed AVCA National Player of the Week, Off the Block National Opposite of the Week and MPSF Offensive Player of the Week, recording 31 kills and four aces on a .407 hitting percentage. Freshman outside hitter Davide Gardini was named Off the Block National Freshman of the Week after a breakout performance against No. 7 Ohio State with 13 kills at a .417 clip. Junior middle blocker Miki Jauhiainen was the man in the middle, recording seven blocks and four digs on the weekend. He currently leads the conference in blocks (7) and sits second in the nation in blocks per set (1.17).
 
About the Nittany Lions
Sunday's matchup against Penn State continues a rivalry dating back to 1985 as the Nittany Lions have the overall advantage in the series with a 3-43 record. Last season, Penn State finished with a 15-11 overall record and a 10-4 conference record, losing in the EIVA semifinals to Harvard, 3-2. The Nittany Lions were selected second in the 2019 preseason Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Coaches' Poll after returning 15 players. All-EIVA First Team performer Calvin Mende and Matthew McLean are two key returners looking to start off were they left off a season ago. Redshirt junior Luke Braswell is another player to watch in the conference after finishing fourth in the NCAA with 10.04 assists.
 
Penn State split the weekend after dropping four sets to Ohio State, but then bounced back to beat North Greenville University in straight sets.  Mende finished the weekend with 23 kills on a .362 hitting percentage while McLearn contributed with 18 kills and 4 aces on a .325 clip. Redshirt juniors Jason Donorovich led the defense with four blocks on four attempts while Braswell and redshirt freshman Will Bantle added 10 digs apiece.
 
About the Red Flash
After completing a three match, nine-set sweep, the Red Flash look to carry its momentum over to this weekend as it takes on two high standing opponents. A season ago, SFU competed in nine matches against Top-15 opponents with two of those matches being against opponents in the top-5. SFU went 0-2 vs. top-5 opponents a season ago. With the re-addition of four key players from the 2017, 16-win team, expectations are high entering the weekend.
 
In the following weekend, Saint Francis held its opponents to 6.7 kills per set and averaged 12 kills per set as a team. SFU is hitting .413% while holding its opponent to a .000 hitting percentage. Redshirt junior Michael Fisher (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley (Pepperdine)) finished the weekend with a team high 29 kills on a .523 hitting percentage. He also leads the conference with a 4.83 kills per set percentage. Redshirt junior Patrick Bryan (Emmaus, Pa./Emmaus) added 25 kills to along with four aces and three blocks. Senior Hayden Herc (Eden, N.Y./Eden) and redshirt junior Cole Carver (Hershey, Pa./Hershey) anchored the defense with seven blocks and two digs apiece.
 
Follow Along
Both matches will have lives stats and live video on NEC FrontRow. The links can be found on the men's volleyball schedule page.
 
Looking Ahead
Following the weekend matches, the Red Flash will continue its home swing with two non-conference matches against Lindewood on Friday and McKendree on Saturday. Friday's match will begin at 7 p.m. and Saturday's match will start at 1 p.m.