LORETTO, Pa. – The Saint Francis men's volleyball team downed Charleston in four sets on Saturday in the first round of the EIVA Conference Tournament, giving the Red Flash its first EIVA semifinal appearance since 2019.

After Charleston took set one, the Red Flash took the next three behind a match-high 22 kills from Michael Fisher.

Saint Francis 3, Charleston 1 (24-26, 25-20, 25-17, 25-23)
Records: Saint Francis (8-18, 6-12), Charleston (4-13, 4-12)
Location: DeGol Arena (Loretto, Pa.)

COACH RUMBAUGH'S COMMENTS
"Hats off to Charleston, they played really hard and we're happy to come out with a win in such a tough battle. To win volleyball matches, you have to grind, and we did that tonight."

HOW IT HAPPENED

SET ONE

• Behind an energetic Red Flash crowd, two Joshua Blair kills gave SFU an early lead.
• Charleston settled in to tie it right after, starting a back-and-forth to a tie at nine.
• Another kill from Blair helped SFU take a 12-10 lead, and a Michael Fisher kill followed by a Thomas Leahey ace forced a Charleston timeout with the Red Flash leading 16-12.
• Out of the timeout, SFU continued to hold its 3-4 point lead, capitalizing on Golden Eagles errors to take a 22-17 lead.
• After an overturned ruling against the Red Flash, Charleston cut its deficit to 22-21, forcing an SFU timeout, and tied the set again at 24.
• Charleston then scored the final two points to take set one, 26-24.

SET TWO

• The teams opened the second set by trading points to a 4-4 tie, then a Leahey kill, Red Flash block, and Leahey ace put SFU up 8-4.
• After a 10-5 lead forced a Golden Eagles timeout, Charleston was able to cut it to 12-11, eventually tying it at 13.
• A Jason Najm kill followed by another one from Fisher gave SFU another lead at 17-14, and a Leahey ace stretched it to four.
• Similar to set one, SFU held a 21-16 lead late, but the Red Flash held on this time, taking the set, 25-20, to tie the match at one.

SET THREE

• Set three opened with a tie at 3, but a Najm kill helped the Red Flash take a 7-4 lead, with SFU eventually stretching it to 9-5.
• Saint Francis continued to hold the five-point lead, getting help from an Alex Finch kill and huge digs from Matthew Menosky.
• The Red Flash ran away with set three, getting more kills from Fisher and a block to close it, 25-17, for a 2-1 lead.

SET FOUR

• Two Josh Blair aces, one from AJ Schmidt, and a kill from Finch pushed the Red Flash to an early 6-2 lead, forcing a Charleston timeout.
• Out of the stoppage, Charleston scored five of the next six points to tie the set at seven, leading to a point-for-point tie at 11.
• After a quick 2-0 Charleston run, SFU scored the next three, keeping the set within one.
• Tied at 16, Saint Francis used a 3-0 run to take a 19-16 lead, but Charleston answered right back to tie it at 21.
• Tied at 22, a Red Flash block and a Thomas Leahey kill gave SFU set four, 25-23, for the 3-1 match win.

STATS

• SFU led in kills (48-46), assists (45-38), hitting percentage (.320-.185), and aces (7-4).
• Each team had eight total blocks.
• Charleston held a slight advantage in digs (29-27).
• Saint Francis committed less attack errors (26-16), but more service errors (20-18) than Charleston.

RED FLASH INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
KILLS – Michael Fisher (22; match-high)
ASST – AJ Schmidt (40; match-high)
DIGS – Michael Fisher (8; match-high)
BLOCKS – Joshua Blair (5 asst.)
SERVICE ACES – Thomas Leahey, Joshua Blair (3; match-high)

UP NEXT
The Red Flash travels to University Park to take on the No. 1 seed Penn State Nittany Lions in the EIVA semifinals. The match is set for Thursday, April 22 at 7:30 p.m., with broadcast information coming early in the week.

Follow Saint Francis Men's Volleyball on Facebook, 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.