WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
>> Saint Francis men's volleyball beat George Mason in a perfect three sets to win their first match of the NEC-EIVA Challenge (29-27, 26-24, 25-23).
>> Andrew Deardorff continues his dominant stretch with a team-high 18 kills on a .395 hitting percentage. The senior outside hitter added on to the statline with seven digs, two blocks (one solo), and one service ace.
>> Brady Stump aided Deardorff with a career-high 17 kills on a .467 hitting percentage. The junior outside hitter also had four digs and an ace.
>> The Red Flash have now won two straight matches after taking down Dominican in four sets last Saturday.
TURNING POINTS OF THE MATCH
The teams exchanged points through their first eight points to begin the match. Saint Francis was able to go on a 3-1 run to go up 12-9, but George Mason responded with a 5-0 run to reclaim the lead. The Red Flash battled back with a 7-3 rally to take a 19-17 advantage, but the Patriots had a furious 7-1 comeback that put them at 24-20 going into set point. With their backs against the wall, the home team rallied with a 9-3 run and waved off set point six different times. The comeback was completed thanks to back-to-back kills from Cole Dorn to help Saint Francis take set one, 29-27.
The second was another back-and-forth-affair. George Mason had a 16-13 lead a little over after the media timeout, but the Red Flash responded with a 4-1 run to get back into the set. The squads duked it out by exchanging points until it was 24-24 all going into extra serves. In a repeat of the first set, the home team scored two-straight points. Deardorff helped end the set with an ace to give Saint Francis a 2-0 set lead.
Set three started with the Red Flash getting out to a blazing 7-3 start and maintaining their advantage through the rest of the set. With the score at 20-16, the Patriots attempted a rally with a 7-4 run to cut their deficit to 24-23. However, the visiting team thwarted their attempt with a service error to help give Saint Francis the sweep.
FLASH MOMENTS
During the team's 9-3 rally in set one, Deardorff (3), Stump (2) and Dorn (2) combined for seven kills during the run. Brayden Gall joined in with Deardorff on a block to help cut the deficit to 24-23 at one point.
Including his ace to cap off the second set, Deardorff racked up nine of his 18 kills during the set. With the score at 21-20, he scored four of the Red Flash final five points.
Set three belonged to Stump, who chipped in eight of his 17 kills during the match-deciding set. With the score at 16-13 in favor of Saint Francis, he provided five of the last nine points to help lead them to the sweep.
FLASH NUGGETS
The duo of Deardorff and Stump combined for 35 of the Red Flash's 50 kills. Deardorff has notched double-digit kills in nine of the last 10 matches and is up to 171 kills during the stretch. For Stump, it is his third-straight contest eclipsing 10 or more.
Richard Kaminski has now posted double-digit digs in the last three matches after registering 12 in tonight's battle. The senior libero collected 14 and 10 in last weekend's season series versus Dominican.
Cole Dorn was third on the team in both kills (8) and digs (5) in his second-straight start. He added an ace and an assist for good measure.
Kyle Charles engineered the Saint Francis offense with 34 assists and led them to a .318 hitting percentage. The freshman setter pitched in three kills on four attacks.
Nicholas Lynch returned from injury after missing the last four matches and played in two sets.
Deke Patton saw his first collegiate action in set three and recorded a dig.
NEXT UP FOR FLASH
Men's Volleyball will face Charleston in their second match of the NEC-EIVA Challenge Saturday night at 7.
