Fairfield, Conn. – The Saint Francis men's volleyball team (4-9, 1-3 EIVA) picked up a sweep against Sacred Heart (4-6, 0-5 EIVA) for its first conference win of the season.

Coach Rumbaugh was proud of the effort his team showed today:

"Finally, it was a good win for us. We fought from behind every set and never felt defeated. Both teams dropped tough five set matches last night and I feel we both gave our all today. Clutch serving to end every set – from AJ in set one, Josh in set two and Dunz in set three – were the difference makers today."

Set One

·         SFU jumped out to a 5-2 lead to start the match.

·         Sacred Heart channeled the Red Flash run and tied the match at 10.

·         The teams stayed close and Sacred Heart used a timeout after SFU took a 16-14 lead.

·         Following the timeout, the Red Flash maintained its lead until the Pioneers tied it at 19.

·         Going back and forth, the teams eventually tied at 24.

·         An ace by AJ Schmidt (Pittsburgh, PA/North Allegheny) gave SFU point 26 and the set win.

·         Schmidt and Brandon Dunz (Lake View, NY/Frontier Senior High School) led the Red Flash with three kills apiece.

·         Roman Szwabinsky (Columbus, Ohio/Westerville South) picked up 11 assists.

·         Final Score: SFU 26, Sacred Heart 24 (SFU leads 1-0).

Set Two

·         The set began 3-3, then Sacred Heart went up 6-3.

·         The Pioneers then extended their lead to 12-6.

·         SFU was able to battle back and tie the set at 17.

·         From there, points were exchanged until the teams found themselves tied at 24 for the second set in a row.

·         This time, an ace from Michael Fisher (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) gave SFU the set victory.

·         Fisher picked up four kills and Blake Liprando (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley HS) also added four.

·         Joshua Blair (Matterson. Illnois/Marian Catholic) had three kills and Joseph Koszelak (North Tonawanda, N.Y./St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute) came in and registered 14 assists.

·         Final Score: SFU 26, Sacred Heart 24 (SFU leads 2-0).

Set Three

·         Sacred Heart jumped out to a 7-2 lead.

·         SHU continued to hold a 4-6 point lead, but the Red Flash clawed back into it and tied it at 16.

·         For the third time in three sets, the teams saw a tie at 21.

·         SFU finished the set on a 4-1 run to take the sweep.

·         Liprando picked up six kills in the set and Koszelak contributed 15 assists.

·         Final Score: SFU 25, Sacred Heart 22 (SFU wins 3-0).

Box Score Notes

·          Blake Liprando (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley HS) had a game-high 12 kills, Michael Fisher (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) added 11 and AJ Schmidt (Pittsburgh, PA/North Allegheny) added eight.

·         Joseph Koszelak (North Tonawanda, N.Y./St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute) had a game-high 29 assists in only two sets.

·         Fisher led the match with 12 digs.

·         SFU led in kills (40-34), assists (40-32), digs (34-24) and attack % (.256-.250).

·         SFU also had 10 aces compared to three from SHU.

Up next for Saint Francis is more conference action on Tuesday night, playing host to #9 Penn State at DeGol Arena.