WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
>> Saint Francis men's volleyball bounced back with a four set win over Erskine Wednesday night (22-25, 25-14, 25-17, 25-18).
>> Andrew Deardorff flooded the stat sheet with 15 kills, .428 hitting percentage, a career-high seven service aces, six digs, and three assists. The seven aces are the most by a Red Flash player since Marc Honore's seven against Rutgers-Newark on March 9, 2007. It was the senior outside hitter's 12th double-digit kill performance in the last 13 matches.
>> Cole Dorn was second on the team with 13 kills on a .462 hitting percentage. It is the second time that he's recorded 13 after first doing it versus Charleston on March 1. The junior tied with Sam Lane with the most blocks with five and also notched four digs and an ace.
>> Luke Bockius (14) and Kyle Charles (11) combined for 25 digs to help the Red Flash hold the Flying Fleet's offense to a .189 hitting percentage, the lowest percentage allowed by the team all season. For Bockius, the freshman played in four sets at libero.
TURNING POINTS OF THE MATCH
Set one started with the score knotted at six apiece after the two teams began exchanging points. The Red Flash went on the first run by scoring four straight points to go up 10-6 and keeping their advantage at four until the score was 16-12. The Flying Fleet responded with four straight of their own and kept fighting until they were up 23-22. Saint Francis called a timeout to ice the server, but it proved to not work as Erskine notched the final two points to win the first set, 25-22.
The Red Flash dominated set two, getting out to a 14-7 lead and extending it to as much as 22-12. Deardoff finished off a near perfect second set with a kill to give Saint Francis a 25-14 victory.
Saint Francis maintained control throughout all of the third set as well. They got out to a 6-3 lead and waved off multiple comeback attempts from Erskine until the final serves. With the score at 19-17 in favor of the Red Flash, they went on a 6-0 run to put an end to the Flying Fleet's rallies. Deardorff posted two of his seven aces for the 24th and 25th point to put the squad up 2-1 in the match.
The final set began with the Red Flash getting out to a quick 7-2 start, but Erskine roared back with a 9-4 run to cut the deficit to 11-9. Saint Francis put an end to a comeback with a 6-1 response to help the team go up 17-10. An 8-4 run that followed from the Flying Fleet to make it 21-18 was not enough, as four straight points from the visitors helped seal the match. Dorn finished off matters with the kill to bring home the victory.
FLASH MOMENTS
The Red Flash offense had their best output in the second set, racking up 15 kills on a .519 hitting percentage. Deardorff and Michael Mosbacher each had five kills apiece to spearhead a dominant offensive performance.
Set three repeated the set two script, as the offense had 12 kills on a .435 hitting percentage. Deardorff (4) and Mosbacher (2) got it done from the service line for six of Saint Francis's 11 aces in the match.
The final set was the Red Flash defense's finest hour, as they held Erskine to just five kills on a -0.083 hitting percentage. The squad forced seven Flying Fleet errors on their way to the victory.
FLASH NUGGETS
The 44 digs tallied by the team are tied for the most in a match this season. The first instance it happened was on February 1 against Lincoln Memorial. The Red Flash tied the mark in just four sets compared to the five versus the Railsplitters.
Tonight marked two straight double doubles for Charles, as he accumulated 42 assists to go with his 11 digs. The freshman setter led the Red Flash offense to 52 kills and a season-high .387 hitting percentage. He now has recorded three contests with double-digit digs during the 2025 campaign.
Mosbacher had his second-straight double-digit kill performance with 11 and also had two aces, two blocks, and two digs. The senior has notched five contests with 10 or more slams in 2025.
Nicholas Lynch racked up seven kills on a .636 hitting percentage. The redshirt junior middle hitter also collected three blocks, one dig, and one ace in his first start back from injury.
Lane's season-high five blocks came in just two sets of action.
NEXT UP FOR FLASH
Men's Volleyball will return to DeGol Arena to take on Roberts Wesleyan on Saturday, March 15 at 12.
