UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Senior Michael Fisher became the sixth player in program history to reach 1,000 career kills, but the Saint Francis men's volleyball team's bid to upset No. 11 Penn State fell just short Saturday afternoon in a five-set defeat.
Fisher tallied a match-high 21 kills as the Red Flash took the first and third sets and pushed the fifth past 15 before the Nittany Lions were able to hold off the Red Flash at the end. Redshirt sophomore AJ Schmidt added 11 kills for Saint Francis, while redshirt junior Josh Blair and sophomore Thomas Leahey contributed to five blocks each.
Saint Francis 2, No. 11 Penn State 3 (27-25, 13-25, 25-23, 21-25, 14-16)
Records: Saint Francis (1-8, 0-2), Penn State (5-1, 2-0)
Location: Rec Hall (University Park, Pa.)
COACH RUMBAUGH'S COMMENTS
"Tonight, we competed. I can live with a loss when we compete like we did today. If we fix a few things as the week goes on we can begin to win these types matches."
HOW IT HAPPENED
SET ONE
· The match began close, with the teams going back and forth and staying within two of each other until the majority of the set.
· SFU was able to take its largest lead of the set at 16-13.
· From there, the Red Flash was able to hold onto the lead up to 20-18, but the Nittany Lions answered to tie at 20.
· In the race to five points, SFU scored the first three and took a 24-21 lead before Penn State stormed back to tie it at 24.
· After an SFU timeout with Penn State up 25-24, the Red Flash tied it at 25, took a 26-25 lead, then capped off the set with a huge Schmidt block to take it, 27-25.
SET TWO
· Penn State jumped out to an 8-2 lead early in set two.
· The Nittany Lions then stretched their lead to the biggest of the match at 12-4.
· The teams then began trading points, with SFU trying to cut into the deficit, but Penn State held the Red Flash off and ran away with the set, 25-13, to tie it at one.
SET THREE
· The Red Flash jumped out to a 7-4 lead early in the set.
· Penn State was able to slow SFU down and catch up to tie it at nine.
· Down 11-10, SFU scored the next four points to take a 14-10 lead.
· After Saint Francis went up 17-14, Penn State was able to hack away and tie the set at 19.
· The teams saw their final tie of the set at 22, and the Red Flash scored three of the final four points to take the set 25-23, and a 2-1 lead.
SET FOUR
· Set four started with the teams trading points to a 6-6 tie. Penn State then scored four of the next five to take a 10-7 lead.
· SFU answered quickly, immediately cutting the lead to one.
· Penn State answered with a run of its own to take a 20-13 lead.
· The Nittany Lions held onto their lead, taking the set 25-21 and sending it to five.
SET FIVE
· Fisher's 18th kill of the afternoon, and his first of the set, gave him his 1,000th career kill. He becomes just the sixth player in school history to reach the mark.
· Penn State jumped out to an early 5-2 lead.
· SFU chipped away, cutting the lead to 5-4 and 6-5.
· The Red Flash was able to tie the set at 11, eventually seeing a 14-14 tie.
· Penn State then scored the last two points to down SFU, 16-14.
STATS
· The teams tied with 49 kills each.
· SFU had 25 attack errors to Penn State's 24.
· Assists were 47-46 in favor of SFU.
· SFU committed more service errors than Penn State (32-22).
· Hitting percentage was .223-.195 in favor of Penn State.
SFU STAT LEADERS
· Kills – Michael Fisher (21; sixth in SFU history with 1,000 kills)
· Assists – Roman Szwabinsky (41)
· Block Assists – Joshua Blair, Thomas Leahey (5)
· Service Aces – AJ Schmidt (2)
UP NEXT
The Red Flash returns home for a weekend EIVA series with Charleston. Matches are set for Friday (Feb. 12) at 8 p.m. and Saturday (Feb. 13) at 4:00 p.m. Both broadcasts will be available on NEC Front Row.
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.
