WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Saint Francis University men's volleyball defeated the Highlanders of NJIT on Friday over a thrilling five-set match.
 
NJIT claimed the first two sets, but the Red Flash rallied back to claim the next three sets for the 3-2 victory over the Highlanders.
 
Nathan Zini (Pittsburgh, Pa./Seton-La Salle Catholic) reached career game highs in four statistical categories on Friday. Zini led the Red Flash with 22 kills and four service aces over 40 total attacks. While also posting seven digs.  
 
Blake Liprando (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) followed closely behind Zini with 16 kills on the day.
 
Andrew Deardorff (Itasca, Ill./Lake Park) recorded a new single-game best of 10 digs.
 
Ryan Parker (East Northport, N.Y./Northport) also collected a new single game high in three categories of 48 assists, eight digs and nine attacks.
 
TURNING POINTS OF THE GAME
With Saint Francis men's volleyball down two sets to zero, the squad started off the third set with a 5-1 run that featured kills from Deardorff and Zini to never allow the Highlanders to lead in the third set. Thanks to a service ace from Parker, the Red Flash took its biggest lead of the third set at a seven-point advantage over NJIT to make the score 12-5. A service error from NJIT sealed the 25-18 third set for the Red Flash. This gave the Red Flash the momentum to go on and claim the next two sets for the victory.
 
FLASH MOMENTS
The first set started off as a back-and-forth battle between both programs. However, once the Highlanders took the lead at a score of 6-5, the New Jersey squad never allowed the Red Flash to take the lead again in the first set. NJIT claimed the first set at a score of 25-20. Despite losing the first set, DeGol Arena saw some fantastic kills from the Red Flash squad and two stellar service aces from Zini.
 
The Red Flash got on the board first in the second set to maintain the lead throughout the remainder of the set until the very end. The Red Flash took its biggest lead of the second set with a five-point advantage over the Highlanders at a score of 17-12. Saint Francis men's volleyball had almost secured the second set until NJIT decided to challenge the final set point for the Red Flash and there was indeed a touch, therefore the second set required more play. The Highlanders took its first lead of the second set with a 2-0 run to claim the extended set at a score of 26-24.
 
The fourth set was more of the same from the Red Flash as the squad also started this set off just like the third set with a 5-1 run to once again never allow the Highlanders to take the lead in the fourth set. Saint Francis claimed its biggest lead of the game at a score of 16-7 for a nine-point lead over NJIT. Back-to-back kills from Zini secured the fourth set for the Red Flash at a score of 25-16.
 
The Red Flash claimed a 3-2 lead in the fifth set after a service error from the Highlanders to never allow NJIT to lead again in the match. No surprise, a service ace from Zini sealed the deal for the Red Flash to claim the fifth and final set for the 3-2 victory.
 
FLASH NUGGETS
Brandon Dunz (Lake View, N.Y./Frontier) saw action for his sixth game this season towards the end of the second set.
 
The last time the Red Flash defeated the Highlanders was in 2019 in straight sets.
 
UP NEXT
The Red Flash will next take on St. Francis Brooklyn on Saturday, April 16 at 4:00 p.m. for the Saint Francis men's volleyball squad's last home game of the 2022 season.
 
The Red Flash only need to win one set over St. Francis Brooklyn in Saturday's contest to clinch a spot in the EIVA Conference Tournament.