WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Saint Francis University men's volleyball took a straight set loss to the Nittany Lions of Penn State University on Saturday to drop to 13-11 overall and 6-7 in the EIVA.
 
Blake Liprando (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) recorded his 500th career kill and 300th career dig in Saturday's game after collecting six kills and four digs.
 
Nathan Zini (Pittsburgh, Pa./Seton-La Salle Catholic) led the Red Flash overall in kills for the second consecutive game with 11 on the day.
 
Thomas Leahey (State College, Pa./State College Area) followed closely behind Zini to put up six kills for the Red Flash.
 
Ryan Parker (East Northport, N.Y./Northport) led the Saint Francis squad by setting up 26 assists in Saturday's match.
 
TURNING POINTS OF THE GAME
The Red Flash started off Saturday's match by going on a 2-0 run thanks to kills from Leahey and Parker. This early lead by Saint Francis kept the Nittany Lions from not taking the lead until the score was 4-3. Both programs continued to battle back and forth in the first set to require the first set to be extended. It was a couple clutch kills from Zini that allowed the Red Flash to stay in the extended set. However, the Nittany Lions were able to claim the first set at a score of 28-26. This was the spark the Penn State squad needed to be able to go and claim the next two sets for the Red Flash to take the straight set loss.  
 
FLASH MOMENTS 

Saint Francis men's volleyball got on the board first to start the second set off. However, the Nittany Lions responded with a 4-0 run for Penn State to maintain the lead for the remainder of the second set and claim it with a score of 25-21. Despite losing the second set, the large crowd in DeGol Arena saw some fantastic kills from Parker, Liprando, Zini and Leahey.
 
The third set started off all Penn State with the Nittany Lions taking a 6-1 run over the Red Flash to start things off. The Red Flash came back within one in the third set after a 4-1 run with kills from Leahey and Zini to make the score 10-11. However, Penn State continued to maintain its lead for the Nittany Lions to go on and claim the third and final set at a score of 25-18.
 
FLASH NUGGETS
The last time the Red Flash held the Nittany Lions to compete in an extended set was last season in State College, Pa. That extended set was also the first set of the match. However, the Red Flash competed over five sets with Penn State in that 2021 matchup.  
 
UP NEXT
Red Flash men's volleyball will compete in its last home games of the season next weekend by taking on NJIT on Friday, April 8 at 7:00 p.m. Followed by a matchup to the Terriers of St. Francis Brooklyn on Saturday, April 9 at 4:00 p.m.