Box Score

Northridge, CA- The Saint Francis men's volleyball team stumbled in its first game on its California road trip with a straight-set loss (21-25, 21-25, 23-25) to No. 12 Cal State Northridge Friday night.
 
Saint Francis dips to 11-7 overall while Cal State Northridge improves to 9-8 on the season.
 
First Set

• Both teams exchanged points in the early going until a kill from Michael Fisher (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley (Pepperdine)) helped the Red Flash take an 7-6 lead.
• CSUN managed to rally off four straight points before Cole Carver (Hershey, Pa./Hershey) ended the Matador's run to make it 10-9.    
• The Matadors maintained a steady two-point lead until the Red Flash fought back to tie the score at 15 on a Fisher kill and CSUN attack error.
• An ace, back to back kills and a Red Flash service error would help the Matadors regain momentum to take a 19-15 lead and force SFU to call a timeout.
• Out of the timeout, CSUN maintained a four point cushion the rest of the way to take the first stanza.
• Set Score: CSUN 25, SFU 21: CSUN leads 1-0

Second Set

• SFU took control early in the second set with a five-point run to lead 6-2.
• CSUN scored the next eight of 12 points to crawl back and tie things at 10-10.
• Both teams would battle back and forth the next six point before an ace and a kill would force SFU to a timeout down 15-13.
• Carver and Fisher managed to help SFU tie things at 16-16 following two big kills. CSUN 4-1 run would force SFU to another timeout trailing 20-17.
• The Red Flash pulled back within two at 22-20, but three errors and an ace helped the Matadors clinch the set and take a 2-0 match lead.
• Set Score: CSUN 25, SFU 21: CSUN leads 2-0

Third Set

• The third set was tightly contested by its 12 tied scores and four lead changes.
• SFU started out with the early advantage at 7-6 before CSUN climbed back with three straight point to tie the set at 9-9.
• The Red Flash captured the next two points thanks to back to back kills from Fisher and Christian Graziano (Williamsville, N.Y./Williamsville South).
• Neither team would give an inch as a back and fourth battle kept things within one point. The Matadors would eventually rally four straight points to take a 16-15 lead and force SFU to a timeout .
• Following the timeout, CSUN managed a two-point cushion before the Red Flash bounced back with a kill and ace to tie the game at 23-23, forcing the Matadors to burn its first timeout.
• CSUN regained its footing and closed the set with the final point coming on a Red Flash attack error.
• Set Score: CSUN 25, SFU 23: CSUN wins 3-0

Game Notes

• Fisher led Saint Francis with 18 kills while hitting .654 (18-1-26) for the match. Fisher also had four digs.
• Graziano provided eight kills, two blocks and four digs in his second start of the season.
• Defensively, Carver finished with a match high four blocks while libero Gabe Woffindin (Allentown, Pa./William Allen) notched a team high five digs.
• The Red Flash hit .408 (38-9-71) as team while CSUN hit .417 (41-11-72).
• Maciej Ptaszynski led the Matadors with 11 kills on a .667 (11-1-15) hitting percentage.

Up Next
Saint Francis faces another ranked opponent in No. 1 Long Beach State tomorrow evening at 7 p.m. PT/ 10 p.m. ET.