Fort Wayne- The Saint Francis men's volleyball team concluded its Midwest road trip by coming up on the short end of a five-set battle (25-23, 21-25, 22-25, 25-20, 13-15) against #13 Purdue Fort Wayne on Saturday evening.
 
Saint Francis drops to 11-10 on the season as its losing streak extends to four games. The 13th ranked Mastodons improved to 13-7.
 
First Set

• Saint Francis sped out to a 6-1 lead before a Red Flash attack error put the run to a halt for Purdue Fort Wayne.
• SFU was able to add onto its lead at 12-5 but six straight points allowed the Mastodons to close the gap to two at 13-11.
• Neither team led by more than two points in the set until back to back kills for the Mastodons put things within one at 17-16.  
• Purdue Fort Wayne put pressure on the Red Flash but a service error prevailed the Red Flash to victory.  
• Despite the set one loss, Purdue Fort Wayne hit .333 (14-4-30) to the Red Flash .250 (10-4-24).
• Set Score: SFU 25, PFW 23- SFU leads 1-0.

 Second Set

• After building points early in the set, the Mastodons built the first multi-point lead of the match at 10-7 on three-straight points which included two errors and a Stone Colton kill.
• Another three-point burst gave PFW a 17-12 lead and force SFU to call timeout. Red Flash had four straight errors in the run.
• Another Mastodon kill gave Purdue Fort Wayne its largest lead of the set at 20-14.
• The Red Flash never pulled within less than two for the rest of the set as Purdue Fort Wayne took the frame.
• Set Score: PFW 25, SFU 21- Match tied 1-1

Set Three

• The majority of the third set was tightly contested as it wasn't until a 16-13 edge by Purdue Fort Wayne that a team held more than a two-point lead in the set.
• The Mastodons continued to slowly build its lead to four at 23-19 before SFU calls timeout to regroup.
• Out of the timeout, the Red Flash pulled back within one at 23-22 but Purdue Fort Wayne finished off the set with back-to-back points off a Pelegrin Vargas kill and SFU service error.
• Set Score: PFW 25, SFU 22- PFW leads 2-1

Set Four

• The Red Flash got off to a solid start in the fourth set to lead 10-6 on a Cole Carver (Hershey, Pa./Hershey) ace, forcing a Purdue Fort Wayne timeout.
• SFU never trailed following the timeout as three straight kills from Carver, Cole Thompson (Los Alamitos, Calif./Los Alamitos) and BJ Blair (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater Raritan) helped the Red Flash take a 20-12 lead.
• Purdue Fort Wayne managed to battle back within four at 24-20 but a service error killed any chance of a comeback.
• Set Score: SFU 25, PFW 20- SFU leads 2-2 

Set Five

• Neither team led by more than three in the final set as both teams battled back and forth.
• A Thompson kill and Fisher ace put the Red Flash ahead 7-6, but PFW fired back with three points in a row to lead 8-7.
• Fisher tied the set at 12-12, but a two-point spurt for PFW set the Mastodons up for match point.
• Fisher delayed the Mastodons winning point with a kill, but a kill by Vargas ended the match for the Red Flash.
• Set Score: PFW 15, SFU 13- PFW wins match

 Game Notes

• Despite the low hitting percentage, the night before, Fisher led the way offensively for the Red Flash with 20 kills. Fisher also contributed defensively with six digs and two blocks.
• Thompson added another double-digit kill effort to his season with 14 kills at a .158 clip. He also led the team with four aces.
• The Red Flash combined for 18 blocks on the night as Hayden Herc (Eden, N.Y./Eden) and B. Blair led the way with five.
• Blair recorded his sixth match with 40+ assists with 45 in tonight's match.
• Pelegrin led the way for the Mastodons with 18 kills while adding five digs and three blocks.

 
Up Next
The Red Flash will get a week off before heading up north to take on its in-state rival Penn State on Tuesday, March 26th.