LORETTO, Pa. – The Saint Francis men's volleyball team (1-2, 0-0) is back in Loretto to open the home slate against King (0-0, 0-0). The matches will be played on Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 1:30 p.m. and can be found on NEC Front Row.
THE MATCHUP: Saint Francis (1-2, 0-0 EIVA) vs. King (0-0, 0-0 Conference Carolinas)
Location: DeGol Arena – Loretto, Pa.
Date and Time: Friday, Jan. 22 – 7:00 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 23 – 1:30 p.m.
Watch: NEC Front Row
Live Stats: Sidearm Stats
SCOUTING THE TORNADO
King will open its season against the Red Flash on Friday. Before last season's cancellation, the Tornado sat at 9-9 with a 5-3 conference mark. King lost to SFU 3-2, and went 1-2 against common opponents that the Red Flash also went 1-2 against (Charleston, Ohio State, Lincoln Memorial).
This season, King lost their leader in kills from 2020, Sean Kohlhase, who registered 170 in 62 sets. King does return their second-leading attacker, senior Joshua Kim, who picked up 127 last season. The Tornado also features its top two in assists, Jack Sarnowski and JT Deppe, who combined for 557 total assists in 2020. On defense, King will be led by two of the three leaders in blocks from last season in Douglas Florencio and Joshua Kim.
SERIES HISTORY
Saint Francis lead King 3-0 all-time, with the first meeting dating back to Jan. 24, 2014.
LAST TIME OUT
Last season, the Red Flash defeated the Tornado, 3-2, in Bristol, Tenn. Leading the way in that match was Joshua Blair with 17 kills. Michael Fisher and Blake Liprando added 16 and 14 kills, respectively. Blair also added 11 digs and Brandon Dunz picked up a game-high five block assists.
YOUNG GUNS
Through the Red Flash's first three matches, sophomore Alexander Finch leads the team with 33 kills. Sophomore Braden Richard falls just behind Finch, sitting second on the team with 29 kills. SFU has also gotten some quality playing time from freshman Trevor Lewis, who has picked up 14 kills and five block assists in eight sets.
INTO THE NUMBERS
Although SFU started the season 1-2, the Red Flash has led its opponents in several different categories. SFU has picked up more kills (136-132), assists (131-128), and aces (26-17) than the competition, but opponents have had less errors (78-60), more digs (130-117), and more total blocks (27.5-23) than the Red Flash.
DEBUTS
Last weekend marked the NCAA debut of two Red Flash freshmen, Trevor Lewis and Joey Ferragonio.
NEXT UP
Following this weekend's matches, SFU will host a four-team tournament next weekend (Jan. 29-30), welcoming NJIT, Loyola Chicago, and No. 5 Lewis. The Red Flash will not play NJIT, but will take on Lewis on Friday and Loyola Chicago on Saturday.
Follow Saint Francis Men's Volleyball on Twitter and Instagram to get up-to-date information and a behind-the-scenes look at the Red Flash.
To learn more about Saint Francis University, visit francis.edu.
