WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
>> Saint Francis men's volleyball bounced back with a sweep over Daemen on Saturday (25-21, 25-21, 32-30).
>> Andrew Deardorff led the Red Flash with 10 kills. The senior also tallied five digs and the match-ending service ace in set three.
>> Brady Stump was second on the team in kills with nine and tallied a career-high six blocks. The junior registered three digs as well
>> Michael Mosbacher racked up a career-high four service aces to go along with his eight kills, .353 hitting percentage, and five digs.
TURNING POINTS OF THE MATCH
The first set began with the teams knotted at seven through the beginning serves. This would be the closest that the set would get, however, as the Red Flash exploded with a 11-2 run to go up 18-9. The Wildcats attempted a comeback with their own 10-4 run to cut the deficit to 22-19, but it proved to not be enough. Saint Francis went on to win set one, 25-21.
Set two started out similarly to set one, as the score was tied at eight to begin matters. The Red Flash went on a 4-0 run that helped them pull away in the set, as Daemen could never get the lead below two. Two errors from the Wildcats with the score at 23-21 ultimately help give Saint Francis a 25-21 set two victory.
The third set started with the teams battling to a 10-10 tie to get it started. Daemen put an end to the stalemate for the time being with a 12-6 run to go up 22-16. On the verge of dropping a set, Saint Francis stormed back with a 8-2 run to tie the score at 24 heading into extra serves. From here, the squads kept exchanging points until it became a 30-30 game.
The Red Flash put an end to the back-and-forth affair, as a Sam Lane kill and Deardorff's match-ending ace helped give the team the 32-30 set three win and the 3-0 sweep.
FLASH MOMENTS
The first set saw the Saint Francis offense post 14 kills on an efficient .435 hitting percentage. With the score at 13-8, the big three of Deardorff (4 kills), Mosbacher (3 kills) and Stump (2 kills) were responsible for nine of the final 12 points.
The Red Flash defense is what set the tone for set two, as they held the Wildcats' offense to 11 kills on nine attack errors (.067 hitting percentage). The team collected a set-high four blocks, with three of them coming during the final eight points. Three of Stump's blocks happened during the second set.
Beginning at 24-21, Saint Francis avoided losing set point six different times. Deardorff and Brayden Gall played a big role in this, as they both chipped in a kill to go with an attack error from Daemen to make the score 24 all. Deardorff came through again with a kill when the Wildcats were up 26-25, and Gall would follow the same with one of his own when the score was 28-27.
FLASH NUGGETS
Going into the final weekend of the regular season, Saint Francis now sits at 5-1 alongside LIU. The two teams will be facing each other next week for the right to become the Northeast Conference regular season champion.
The Red Flash held Daemen to 35 kills, 22 attack errors, and a .148 hitting percentage.
Deardorff collected his 17th match with 10 or more kills in today's contest. He is 24 away from reaching 1,000 for his career.
Mosbacher finishes the weekend with six service aces after totaling two in Friday's match.
Gall recorded five kills on a .571 hitting percentage.
In his second-straight start at libero alongside Richard Kaminski, Jackson Decker tallied a career-high seven digs.
NEXT UP FOR FLASH
Men's Volleyball will return to DeGol Arena for their two matches against LIU April 18-19. The match on the 19th will be senior day, where Deardorff, Kaminski, Mosbacher, and Nathan Hayes will be honored in a pregame ceremony.
