Loretto, Pa. – The Saint Francis men's volleyball team will open its 2020 season on Wednesday, Jan. 8, when it hosts No. 7 Stanford at 7 p.m.
Series History
Saint Francis is 1-0 all-time vs. Stanford, defeating the eighth-ranked Cardinal in four sets early in the 2018 season.
Scouting the Cardinal
Stanford went 15-11 in 2019 and was selected third in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation's Preseason Coaches' Poll behind BYU and UCLA. Stanford returns nine players from the 2019 roster, including AVCA All-America honorable mention selections Paul Bischoff and Jaylen Jasper. Junior Kyler Presho was a second team All-MPSF pick a year ago.
Red Flash vs. Ranked Opponents
Saint Francis has proven it can compete with the nation's elite programs, going 3-6 vs. ranked teams in the AVCA Division I-II Top 15 last season, with a win over No. 14 Ohio State and two wins over George Mason when it was ranked No. 13 and No. 15. SFU's win over Stanford in 2018 was its last over a team ranked in the top 10. Saint Francis is slated to play nine games against opponents currently tabbed in the top 15.
New-Look Red Flash
Saint Francis has a relatively young squad, returning just three starters from a season ago. Two of those returners earned All-EIVA accolades in redshirt senior outside hitter Michael Fisher (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) and redshirt senior B.J. Blair (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan). Fisher was a First Team All-Conference selection and an AVCA Division I-II Honorable Mention All-American, while Blair landed on the EIVA Second Team. Redshirt senior Gabe Woffindin (Allentown, Pa./William Allen) is also back for his final season of eligibility and was a All-EIVA Second Team performer in 2017.
Home Court Advantage
Saint Francis will have a big home court advantage when it hosts Stanford. The Red Flash have been much better splits at home than on the road in recent years, going 15-11 in DeGol Arena since the start of the 2018 season and just 7-17 away from home. The Red Flash were 9-4 at home last season.
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Live Stats: https://sfuathletics.com/sidearmstats/mvball/summary
