Men's Volleyball | 1/27/2026 10:09:00 AM
Wednesday, January 28 | Hawai'i | Loretto, Pa. | DeGol Arena | 7 p.m. | LIVE STATS | WATCH LIVE
Friday, January 30 | Roberts Wesleyan | Loretto, Pa. | DeGol Arena | 7 p.m. | LIVE STATS | WATCH LIVE
Saturday, January 31 | Roberts Wesleyan | Loretto, Pa. | DeGol Arena | 1 p.m. | LIVE STATS | WATCH LIVE
OPENING SERVE VS HAWAI'I
Saint Francis and Hawai'i are preparing for its fourth matchup on Wednesday. The Rainbow Warriors currently have three sweeps against the Red Flash dating back to 2019. The last time these teams faced each other was when Saint Francis traveled to Manoa, HI in 2023.
Nathan Zini led the Red Flash with 12 kills.
THE WORD ON THE RAINBOW WARRIORS
The Rainbow Warriors are going into the week with a 7-1 record. They beat NJIT twice, split with Loyola Chicago, Roberts Wesleyan twice, and Rockhurst twice. Hawai'i is currently ranked third in the country and came off a 27-6 record in 2025. They made it to the NCAA Championship where they lost in the semifinals to UCLA. Hawai'i brought back an opposite hitter who is leading the team with kills (65), Kristian Titriyski. Last year, he was AVCA All-America Second Team, All-Big West first team, and Big West All-Freshman team. Another key component to the team is the setter, Tread Rosenthal. The sophomore was named to the AVCA All-America first team and All-Big West first team last year. Rosenthal is starting the 2026 season off with 213 assists, 21 blocks, 19 digs, 16 kills, and seven aces.
OPENING SERVE VS ROBERTS WESLEYAN
Saint Francis will play two matches against Roberts Wesleyan. The first, and only, meeting between these two teams took place last year when Saint Francis won 3-0. Brady Stump led the Red Flash will 10 kills and Jackson Decker collected seven kills with a hitting percentage of .600. Saint Francis held Roberts Wesleyan to a .115 hitting percentage and 20 kills. They are looking to push their record to 3-0 against the Redhawks.
THE WORD ON THE REDHAWKS
The Redhawks enter the week with a 4-2 overall record after ending 2025 with a 12-21 record. They beat D'Youville twice, FDU twice, and lost twice to Hawai'i. Roberts Wesleyan brought back a key outside hitter, Ryan DeJohn. DeJohn was named to the 2025 NCCAA Midwest Region second team, ECC Rookie of the Year, and All-ECC first team. He currently has 68 kills, 29 digs, seven aces, and seven assists. The second key player is the sophomore setter, Landon Brouwer. he was named first team NCCAA All-American, NCCAA Midwest Region Player of the Year, NCAA Midwest Region first team, and ECC Setter of the Year. So far in 2026 he has 205 assists, 37 digs, 10 aces, and nine blocks.
PRESEASON POLL
Saint Francis men's volleyball was picked to tie first in the NEC Preseason Poll. Daemen earned three first-place votes while the Red Flash claimed two. LIU and FDU both took a first-place nod to finish in third and fourth. Following behind, the newly added teams, Manhattan and UMES finish fifth and sixth. Rounding out the poll was D'Youville in seventh.
NEXT TIME OUT
The men's team will travel to University Park on February 6 to play Penn State at 6:00 p.m. Then Penn State will travel to Loretto to face the Red Flash at home on February 7 at 6:00 p.m.
RETURNERS TO TALK ABOUT
Brady Stump returns as one of the team's top leaders in kills (266), digs (99), blocks (40), and aces (25). During the 2025 campaign, the All-NEC first team outside hitter was seventh in kills per set, eighth in points per set, and 10th in hitting percentage in the NEC. So far this season, the NEC Player of the Week has recorded 43 kills, nine aces, 15 digs, and four blocks.
Sam Lane also registered 135 kills and 65 blocks, coming in eighth in blocks per set in 2025. He was named to the All-NEC second team due to his dominant blocking abilities. Lane registered a season high of five blocks against Erskine back in April. In 2026, the senior collected 22 kills, eight digs, and a hitting percentage of .390.
Kyle Charles returns to collect more assists as he paced assists per set (9.97) in the NEC. He was announced as the NEC Rookie of the Year and All-NEC first team in 2025. The sophomore racked up three double double and had a season best of 62 assists versus Dominican. Charles collected 887 assists, 106 digs, 46 blocks, and 43 kills. The setter is starting 2026 off with 79 assists, 10 digs, three blocks, and three kills.
Back as a graduate student, Richard Kaminski continues to look for digs in the backrow. The libero recorded 10+ digs seven times, accumulating 142 digs and 37 assists in the previous season with the Red Flash. Kaminski finished third in the NEC with total digs and seventh in digs per set. He registered 11 digs for the Red Flash to start the new season.
Nathan Zini returns after a season ending injury to compete in the 2026 campaign. In 2024, the opposite hitter was named NEC Player of the Year, All-NEC first team, and AVCA All-American honorable mention. He registered 410 kills, 125 digs, 63 aces, and 31 blocks. His 63 aces were the most across both Division I and Division II men's volleyball. The graduate student has 24 kills, nine digs, three blocks, and three aces in his return to volleyball.
NEC HONORS
Stump, a member of the Saint Francis men's volleyball team, has been named Prime Performer after obtaining NEC Player of the Week during week one.
Stump again led the way in two victories over Northern Kentucky. With a constant offensive presence, he recorded 26 kills on the week. Stump also made an impact from the service line with four aces, added 11 digs, and contributed defensively with four blocks.
WELCOME TO THE LO'
Five freshman are looking for their collegiate debut this weekend:
Gianluca Gomez (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Saint Joseph Metuchen),
Tate Myatt (Chicago, Ill./Lane Tech),
Luke Colquette (Highlands ranch, Colo./Mountain Vista),
Alexander Owens (Tuscon, Ariz./Salpointe Catholic), and
Andre Pimienta (Los Angeles, Calif./Wisebum Da Vinci).
Nate Duff (Virginia Beach, Va./First Colonial) had his first collegiate start again BYU where he collected four digs and a kill.
Jack Wolgemuth (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest) had six digs in his collegiate debut in the win against Northern Kentucky.
Derek Piatek (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mars Area) had his collegiate debut in the win against Northern Kentucky with an ace.
ABOUT THE COACH
Mike Rumbaugh enters is 28th season as the Saint Francis men's volleyball head coach in 2026. Rumbaugh is the second head coach in program history, after Gary Evangelisto, who guided the program for the first 15 years (1984-98). Rumbaugh was named the NEC Coach of the Year for the third-straight campaign. Prior to joining the NEC, Rumbaugh and the Red Flash was a member of the EIVA for the first 24 years as a head coach. Saint Francis registered a winning overall season 10 times during this stretch and participated in the EIVA Tournament 10 times, advancing to the EIVA Championship Game four times (2006, 2007, 2016, and 2017) and winning the EIVA Hay Division twice (2001, 2005). Rumbaugh arrived in Loretto in 1998 after serving a six-year term as an assistant coach with the men's and women's volleyball teams at Mercyhurst College. Rumbaugh is a certified official by the United States of America Volleyball Association. He has served as an instructor at USA High Performance and Regional High Performance Camps, and coached the USA Continental Youth Team against domestic and international opponents at the USA Select Competition.
