WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Saint Francis University men's volleyball defeated No.13 Ohio State University in a four-set match up on Saturday.
 
The Buckeyes claimed the first set of the game, but the Red Flash rallied back to claim the next three sets for the 3-1 victory.  
 
With Saturday's win, the Red Flash stay undefeated at home and improve to 12-6 overall.
 
Joshua Blair (Matterson, Ill./ Marian Catholic) led in Saturday's match overall with 14 kills. While Blake Liprando (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) followed closely behind with 13 kills on the day and five digs.
 
Nathan Zini (Pittsburgh, Pa./Seton-La Salle Catholic) recorded ten kills and one serving ace. 
 
AJ Schmidt (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) led the Red Flash to set 46 assists.
 
Thomas Leahey (State College, Pa./State College Area) recorded a new single game career high of five digs in a single match on Saturday. While leading the squad in aces and blocks with two and four, respectively.
 
Andrew Deardorff (Itasca, Ill./Lake Park) recorded a new season high of three assists in a single game in Saturday's victory over the Buckeyes, while leading the Red Flash squad with eight digs.
 
FLASH QUOTES
"Today felt like a very good team win. The bench helped us come back up when we were down, AJ Schmidt did a great job of setting, our freshman felt confident, and our seniors led our guys to a successful victory." – head coach Mike Rumbaugh
 
"Facing them earlier in the year, it was great to see the growth that the team has made against a really good Ohio State team. This is the momentum that we need going into the second half of the season." – sophomore Matthew Menosky
 
TURNING POINTS OF THE GAME
With Saint Francis men's volleyball up two sets to one, the squad just needed the fourth set to claim the victory. The Red Flash took the lead first in the fourth set with a score of 2-1, but the Buckeyes were able to go on a 5-0 run and control its lead throughout the beginning of the fourth set. Saint Francis kept finding its way back into the set to tie on a few occasions. However, it was 5-0 run that gave the Red Flash the lead once again to make the score 18-16 in the fourth set that featured a kill from Deardorff and blocks from Leahey and Deardorff. The Buckeyes were able to find its way back in to take a two-point advantage and make the score 21-19, but the Red Flash were not even close to finished. The Saint Francis men's volleyball squad responded with a 6-1 run to take the lead and thanks to a kill from Blair the Red Flash clinched the fourth and final set with a score of 25-22.
 
FLASH MOMENTS 

The Buckeyes started off the match by going on a 2-0 run to never allow the Red Flash to lead in the first set for Ohio State to go on to claim the first set, 25-17. Despite losing the first set, DeGol Arena saw some fantastic rallies from both programs that featured kills from Liprando, Leahey, Zini and Blair for Saint Francis.
 
The Red Flash took its first lead of the game at the start of the second set with a 3-0 run that was produced by kills from Liprando and Blair and a service ace from Leahey. Saint Francis did not allow the Buckeyes to take the lead in the second set until a score of 12-11. However, Saint Francis responded with a 5-0 run to never allow the Buckeyes to lead again in the second set. The Red Flash clinched the second set with a score of 25-20.
 
The third set was an all-out battle between both teams. However, the Buckeyes claimed a four-point advantage over the Red Flash to make the score 10-6. With the Red Flash down by four at a score of 17-13, the squad was able to go on a 6-1 run thanks to some blocks coming from Leahey, Schmidt, Liprando and Blair to put the squad back within one at a score of 20-19. With Saint Francis down 24-21, the squad went on a 3-0 run to tie the set at 24-24 to require more action in the third set. With the third set tied 26-26, two kills coming from Liprando and Deardorff sealed the extended third set for the Red Flash with a score of 28-26.
 
FLASH NUGGETS
Saturday's win marks the third time out of 34 games that the Red Flash have defeated the Buckeyes in Saint Francis men's volleyball history.
 
The last time the Red Flash defeated Ohio State was in 2019 over four sets.
 
UP NEXT
The Red Flash will next be on the road to face George Mason University on Friday, March 18 at 7:00 p.m. and Princeton University on Saturday, March 19 at 5:00 p.m. before starting a six-game home stretch.