Box Score

Loretto, Pa.- The Saint Francis men's volleyball team won its third straight conference match, taking down NJIT 3-0 (25-21, 25-22, 25-22) Friday evening at Degol Arena.
 
Saint Francis improves to 10-7 on the season and 4-2 during conference play. NJIT dropped to 4-8 overall and 0-4 in the EIVA
 
How It Happened
First Set

• Both teams hung close with each other until NJIT scored three-straight points off Saint Francis attack errors to make it 14-12 and force the Red Flash to call timeout.
• Following the timeout, Cole Thompson (Los Alamitos, Calif./Los Alamitos) and Patrick Bryan (Emmaus, Pa./Emmaus) bounced back to back kills to help the Red Flash regain its lead at 15-14.
• Seven of the next ten points would feature either a service error or attack error but luckily SFU would rise on top to a 21-19 lead and cause NJIT to burn a timeout.
• The Highlanders managed to pull with three at 23-20, but SFU finished off the set with back to back kills from Michael Fisher (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley (Pepperdine)) and Bryan.
• The Red Flash out hit NJIT .346 to .160.
• Set Score: SFU 25, NJIT 21- SFU leads 1-0

Second Set

• The second set was tightly contested as indicated by its nine tied scores and six lead changes.
• Back to back kills and an attack error allowed the Red Flash to swing the momentum and take a three-point lead at 13-10.  
• The Highlanders inched back to tie things up at 15 before SFU regained its footing and rattled off three straights to take a 21-17 lead.
• NJIT pulled back within two at 23-21, but the Red Flash found the points it needed and finished off the set with a kill from Thompson.
• Set Score: SFU 25, NJIT 22- SFU leads 2-0

Third Set

• The Red Flash took advantage of a couple of kills and a few early errors to lead 6-3 in the third set.
• NJIT stormed back to tie the set a 8-8 before scoring the next three of four points to lead 11-9, forcing SFU to call a timeout.
• The Highlanders managed to extend its lead to 14-10 out of the timeout, but SFU rallied together to score six straight points thanks to two Christian Graziano (Williamsville, N.Y./Williamsville South) aces and a Fisher kill.
• Leading 17-15, the Red Flash pushed its lead to 20-16 until three big Highlanders kills put the match back within one point at 20-19.
• Fisher closed the set with the final kill of the frame to clinch the three-point set and match win.
• Set Score: SFU 25, NJIT 22- SFU wins 3-0

Game Notes

• Fisher provided a spark to the Red Flash offense with 19 kills on a season-high .500 hitting percentage. Defensively, he added three blocks and six digs.
• Thompson and Bryan also contributed with eight kills apiece while BJ Blair (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater Raritan) dished out a match-high 37 assists.
• Ryan Alu (Pipersville, PA/Central Bucks West ) had a team leading nine digs in his fourth straight start of the season.
• Cole Carver (Hershey, Pa./Hershey) continued his dominance in the middle with six of the Red Flash's 15 blocks.
• Alvaro Gimeno lead the Highlanders with 13 kills and four blocks.

Up next
The Red Flash will welcome in first place Princeton to close out the first half of conference play.