Loretto, Pa. – The Saint Francis men's volleyball team (2-4) is back at home after a five-match road trip to take on Ohio State (6-1) and Ball State (3-3) on Friday and Saturday, each at 7 pm at DeGol Arena.

Scouting Ohio State

Ohio State has jumped out to a hot start this season and has already seen time in the AVCA Top 15. SFU played OSU in Columbus in its second match of the season, falling to the Buckeyes 3-0. OSU's only loss this season came in its last match, falling to #6 UCLA 3-1.

So far, the Buckeyes have been led by a pair of hitters in Martin Lallemand and Reese Devilbiss, who have registered 72 and 64 kills, respectively. OSU also has two other players with 30+ kills. Michael Wright (150 assists) and Luke Lentin (96 assists) have combined for 246 of Ohio State's 270 assists. Defensively, Samuel Clark leads OSU with 21 block assists, followed by Ethan Talley and Martin Lallemand, who have 19 and 17 block assists.

Series History: Ohio State leads, 18-2

SFU is 0-1 against OSU this season. The teams have met at least once every season dating back to 2008 with the exception of 2016. SFU's most recent win against the Buckeyes came last season in Loretto, 3-2. Michael Fisher (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) led the match with 27 kills.

Scouting Ball State

Ball State has started its season 3-3, beginning 3-0 then dropping the next three. The Cardinals fell to #4 UC Santa Barbara and EIVA members #12 George Mason and NJIT. Ball State will be at University Park on Friday night to take on #7 Penn State before coming to Loretto on Saturday.

Kaleb Jenness leads the Cardinals with 72 kills, followed by Matt Szews (62 kills) and Felix Egharevba (42 kills). The leading assist-getter for Ball State is Quinn Isaacson, who is up to 158 assists on the season. Jake Romano is second-best with 53 assists. On defensive, Felix Egharevba is the only Cardinal with 10+ block assists (15), followed by Matt Szews (8 block assists) and Wil McPhillips (7 block assists).

Series History: Ball State leads, 12-4

SFU and Ball State have met each season since 2008. The Cardinals are on a three-match win streak against the Red Flash. SFU's last victory against the Cardinals came in 2016, a 3-2 win in Loretto.

Back at Home

After a five-match road trip, the Red Flash returns home for a five-match homestand. During the homestand, SFU will play OSU, Ball State and St. Francis Brooklyn before beginning conference play against NJIT and #13 Princeton.

Close Matches

SFU got its second win of the season last weekend in a five-set match against King. So far this season, three of six Red Flash matches have gone to five sets, and one has gone to four.

EIVA Leaderboards

Currently, Michael Fisher (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) is second in the conference in kills (78) and kills per set (3.71). Brandon Dunz (Lake View, NY/Frontier Senior High School) also sits second with 25 total blocks.