>> Nathan Zini recorded his second straight 20-kill game, and had a hitting percentage of .488. The junior opposite now has five games of 20 or more this season. He also posted five digs and three blocks on defense.
>> Andrew Deardorff ended the match with 12 kills, a .524 hitting percentage, and six digs.
>> Peyton Blain finished with a team-high nine digs. With 276 on the season, the senior libero has racked up more digs in a single season by any player in program history. He surpassed Zach Nanni, who tallied 267 in 2007.
TURNING POINT OF THE MATCH
Saint Francis took sets two and three to go up 2-1. The fourth set started out with the Red Flash getting out to a 21-14 lead, but D'Youville rallied with a 6-1 run to cut their deficit to 22-20. With a potential comeback on the horizon, the away team from Loretto, Pa. responded by scoring the final three points. A Brady Stump service ace helped close out set four and the match by a final score of 25-20.
FLASH MOMENTS
The opening set saw the Saints take the early advantage, getting out to a 15-12 lead going into the media timeout. Out of timeout, the Red Flash responded with a 9-6 rally to make it 21-21. D'Youville countered the comeback with their own 4-2 run to take set one, 25-23.
Set two started out with the Saints jumping out to an 18-15 lead. Saint Francis would respond with a 5-1 run to make it 20-19, but D'Youville scored three of the next four points to take a 22-21 advantage going into the final serves. On the verge of a potential 0-2 deficit, the Red Flash showed resilience with a 4-1 rally to avoid that. Zini ended the set with a kill to give the team a 25-23 set win.
The third set started out close, with the score being tied at seven. That was the last time the set would be tied, as Saint Francis went on a 9-2 run to make it 16-9 and give the team all momentum. They recorded their best hitting percentage of any set at .458, and went up as much as 19-11. The squad cruises to a 25-17 win to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
FLASH NUGGETS
The Red Flash improved to 9-0 in conference play. The team is three wins away from the first ever undefeated conference regular season in Saint Francis men's volleyball history.
Ryan Parker ended the match with 43 assists and led the offense to an overall 52 kills and a .400 hitting percentage. He added seven digs, two blocks, and two aces as well.
Nicholas Lynch registered an all-around performance of seven kills, a hitting percentage of .417, and six blocks.
Stump recorded a career-high five aces and tacked on seven kills.
UP NEXT
Men's Volleyball has another match against the Saints Saturday at 4.
