WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
>> Saint Francis men's volleyball put themselves in position to claim their third-straight Northeast Conference (NEC) Regular Season championship on Saturday after defeating LIU in four sets Friday night (25-23, 25-23, 21-25, 25-22).
>> In order for the Red Flash to three-peat for the honor, they'll have to beat the Sharks or push the second match tomorrow afternoon to five sets to beat them in the head-to-head set winning percentage.
>> Andrew Deardorff posted his third career double double with 22 kills and 10 digs. The senior accumulated his 22 slams with an efficient .450 hitting percentage. He tied with Brady Stump for most service aces with two as well.
>> Stump was second on the team in kills (17) and digs (6). Along with the two aces, the junior tallied two blocks.
TURNING POINTS OF THE MATCH
Set one was close from start to finish, with neither team gaining a lead higher than three. LIU held the largest advantage at 14-11, but Saint Francis scored three-straight points to continue the theme of the set. The squads proceeded to exchange points until the score was knotted at 23 heading into the final serves. This would be the end of the back-and-forth affair, however, as a service error from LIU's Kale Spencer was immediately followed up with Stump slamming down an ace to help the Red Flash win set one, 25-23.
The second set saw neither squad get above a two point lead. The score was tied up 13 different times before it was settled to 21-21 all apiece with Saint Francis looking to go up 2-0. The home team once again persevered by scoring four of the final six points, including a kill from Sam Lane to give themselves another 25-23 set victory.
The Sharks got out to a 10-7 advantage to begin set three, but the Red Flash responded by evening the score at 15 midway through. On the verge of getting swept, LIU countered with a 5-2 run to make it 20-17. A timeout from Mike Rumbaugh would not bring enough momentum, as the Sharks took set three by a final score of 25-21 to cut their match deficit to 2-1.
Saint Francis held the lead throughout all of the fourth set, as they jumped out to a 12-7 advantage. The Sharks would attempt a comeback by getting within one point four times (15-14, 18-17, 19-18, 20-19), but the Red Flash had the response to each rally. With the score at 24-21, Deardorff put an end to the match with his 22nd kill to give the squad he 3-1 match victory.
FLASH MOMENTS
With the score at 20-19 in favor of LIU in the first set, Stump and Lane combined to score five of the final six points to close out the set for Saint Francis. Stump picked up two kills and the set-ending ace, while Lane collected two slams of his own. Stump finished the first game with six kills altogether.
Down 21-19 at the end of set two, Saint Francis rallied with a 6-2 run altogether. It began with a 4-0 spurt that began with back-to-back kills from Deardorff. Lane and Kyle Charles combined for the block right after to give them a 22-21 lead. From there, Stump, Deardorff and Lane chipped in a slam to ultimately give the team the 25-23 set two win.
The Sharks final attempt to take the lead in the fourth set came when they cut the deficit to 20-19. This was when the duo of Deardorff and Stump put the match away for good by combining for four of the final five points. Stump started it off with a kill and an ace to force a timeout at 22-19. Deardorff put the exclamation point with two kills for the final three points to lead the Red Flash to the 25-22 set four victory.
FLASH NUGGETS
Deardorff accumulated his seventh contest with 20 or more kills this season and is now two away from reaching 1,000 for his career.
The Saint Francis offense was firing on all cylinders in tonight's contest, compiling 58 kills and a .379 hitting percentage. The 58 slams are the most in conference play so far, and the .378 percentage is the second-highest of the 2025 campaign. The best mark was .387 on March 5 at Erskine.
Charles dished out 48 assists, one kill, and one service ace to command the offensive attack. On defense, he tied Lane and Brayden Gall for the most blocks with three and also had three digs.
Lane added on to his three blocks by being third on the team in kills with seven. The junior also posted one dig.
To go along with his three blocks, Gall collected six kills on an efficient .667 hitting percentage. The sophomore middle blocker collected three digs as well.
NEXT UP FOR FLASH
Men's Volleyball will return to DeGol Arena to face LIU Saturday afternoon at 4. Deardorff, Richard Kaminski, Michael Mosbacher, and Nathan Hayes will be honored following the conclusion of the match.
