LORETTO, Pa. – Saint Francis University men's volleyball head coach Mike Rumbaugh has announced its 2024 schedule. The 29-game schedule consists of a three-game road trip to start the season, a 11-game road trip between Feb. 2 and Mar. 6, and 12 games at DeGol Arena.
 
"I am excited about the opponents on our schedule for 2024," Rumbaugh said. "We have a good variety of teams from across the country, with teams from the Big West, Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA), Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA), Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC), and a couple independent schools. We start off with some of the best teams in the country right off the bat with Ohio State and our west coast trip to UC Irvine and Long Beach State. I am glad to help grow the sport by scheduling matches with SIAC members and a couple newer programs."
 
"Also, I'm glad that Charleston and Penn St. agreed to play back-to-back games to let us prepare for conference play," Rumbaugh added. "The Northeast Conference (NEC) is going to be better than last year, and I think the schedule will help us be at the top of the league at the end of the year."
 
The reigning NEC regular season champion Red Flash will open the season at Ohio State on Jan 8. It will be the two teams' 36th matchup dating back to 1993. In their last matchup on March 12, 2022, Nathan Zini tallied 10 kills in a Saint Francis 3-1 set win over the then-No. 13 ranked Buckeyes.
 
The Red Flash will then hit the road for a two-match California trip, starting at UC Irvine on Jan. 10. It will be the teams' first ever matchup against one another. The road trip finishes off at Long Beach State Jan. 14. The match will be the third time they've faced off, dating back to 2019.
 
After the pacific coast trip, Saint Francis returns to DeGol for a four-game home stand, starting out with back-to-back matches between Dominican and Central State on Jan. 20. It will be the first-time the Red Flash have competed against the two schools, as the 2024 season will be the inaugural season for the Dominican men's volleyball program. The match against Central State will be its first match against a SIAC opponent.
 
The following week will be a bout with NJIT on January 26. The teams split their two matchups during the 2023 season. In Saint Francis's 3-1 set win on Mar. 16, Andrew Deardorff recorded 13 kills and Ryan Parker stuffed the stat sheet with 34 assists, six blocks, and five digs.
 
The final match of the home slate will be against the Queens on Jan. 28. The two schools have played against one another 17 times since 1989. Saint Francis has won the last three matches against the Royals, including a 3-1 set win last season.
 
The Red Flash will then hit the road for the next 10 matches, starting at Fort Wayne and Ball State Feb. 2-3. It will follow with a trip to Charleston on Feb. 8-9. As former foes in the EIVA, Saint Francis is 12-5 all-time in the series against the Golden Eagles dating back to 2015, including winning four of the last five matchups. The most recent came in 2022, where Zini registered 10 kills in a 3-1 set win.
 
The squad will start its NEC schedule the following week on Feb. 16-17 at LIU. It will be a rematch of last season's NEC Championship game, where the Sharks came out victorious. During the regular season, the two teams split the series 1-1. Saint Francis's 3-0 win on Apr. 8, 2023, saw the Red Flash offense record a .469 hitting percentage, the second-highest mark of the season. The duo of Trevor Lewis and Deardorff also tallied 13 kills each in the match.
 
Next week will see the Red Flash travel to play Sacred Heart Feb. 23-24. Saint Francis swept the Pioneers in the season series last season, taking all six sets between the two matches. The Red Flash defense held the Pioneers to two of the five lowest hitting percentages on the season at .103 and .122, respectively.
 
The men's volleyball team will then face off at George Mason on March 2. It will be the 63rd matchup between the schools since 1984, having been long-time conference foes in the EIVA. Afterwards, Saint Francis will complete their road trip on March 6 with their first-ever matchup against SIAC member Fort Valley State.
 
Saint Francis returns home to DeGol on March 11 against Tusculum in another first-time duel. It will be followed by back-to-back matches against Penn State, one at DeGol on Mar. 16 and the other match at State College on March 17. It will be the 57th and 58^th match between the schools, dating back to 1985. The two teams were former conference foes in the EIVA. In the first matchup last season against the No. 3-ranked Nittany Lions on Feb. 11, the Red Flash took a 2-0 set lead.
 
The Red Flash return home to face Daemen on March 22-23. Since the Wildcats have started its volleyball program in 2019, Saint Francis has won all four matchups. This includes sweeping the season series last season by final scores of 3-2 and 3-1. In the two teams' first matchup on March 25, in a 15-14 deficit in the fifth set, the Red Flash scored the final three points to take home the win.
 
Saint Francis will duel with Merrimack next on March 29-30. The Red Flash swept the Warriors last season by final scores of 3-1 and 3-0. The squad recorded a season-high 53 digs in the teams' second matchup on April 1.
 
For the first time since Mar. 17, the Red Flash will take a road-trip to D'Youville on April 5-6. In last season's matchups, Saint Francis won both 3-0. The team held the D'Youville offense to a .000 and -.072 hitting percentage, the lowest percentages that the defense held another team to all season. The first win on March 24 also kicked off a nine-game winning streak, the longest winning streak in program history since the 10-game streak the 1995 team went on.
 
To complete the regular season, the Red Flash will battle at home against Fairleigh Dickinson April 12-13. Saint Francis took both matches and all six sets in the season series last season. If the squad were to make it to the NEC playoffs, the semifinal would be held on April 18 and the championship game would be held on April 20.
 
Saint Francis will look to make it back to the NEC Championship match for the second straight year. The 2023 season marked the first time that the team made it to a conference championship game since the 2017 season. The 16 regular season wins tied the 2017 team for the most wins during that stretch as well. The team was also dominant in conference, recording the best conference record in program history at 12-2.