Men's Volleyball | 2/26/2026 9:54:00 AM
Friday, February 27 | LIU | Brooklyn, N.Y. | Steinberg Wellness Center | 6 p.m. | LIVE STATS | WATCH LIVE
Saturday, February 28 | LIU | Brooklyn, N.Y. | Steinberg Wellness Center | 6 p.m. | LIVE STATS | WATCH LIVE
OPENING SERVE VS LIU
Saint Francis will face LIU for the 10th and 11th team dating back to 2022. Currently, the Red Flash are leading the series 7-2 with a four-game winning streak. All of the last four games have been four or five sets a piece. Saint Francis is looking to add two more tallies to its winning column.
THE WORD ON THE SHARKS
The Sharks are heading into the weekend with a 4-7 record after going 17-9 last year. In 2026, they have lost twice to St. Thomas Aquinas, once to No. 16 CSU Northridge, Master's, No. 2 Long Beach State, and Merrimack. They have beat Merrimack once, American International once, and Dominican twice. LIU brought in a key outside hitter/right side hitter, Ike Vernon. He is leading the Sharks with 114 kills, second in digs (43), blocks (24), and aces (6). LIU also brought back another key player, Redshirt Sophomore, Heston Cabinian. Cabinian was recently named Prime Performer and is second in stats for the Sharks with kills (73). He also has 41 digs, 13 blocks, and seven assists.
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
Saint Francis will spend spring break in California to face Stanford. The Red Flash will play March 6 at 6 p.m. PT and 9 p.m. ET. The following day, they will play at the same time.
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 132 kills, 54 digs, 20 aces, and nine 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 52 kills, 26 blocks, 13 digs, and a hitting percentage of .406.
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 233 assists, 29 digs, 12 kills, and nine blocks.
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 29 digs and nine assists 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 76 kills, 44 digs, 12 blocks, and seven aces in his return to volleyball.
NEC HONORS
Stump, a member of the Saint Francis men's volleyball team, has been named the NEC Player of the Week.
Stump helped lead the Red Flash to two victories over Catawba, totaling 22 kills across the pair of matches. He recorded 11 kills in each contest, highlighted by an impressive .563 hitting percentage in the first match. Stump also contributed 7 aces and 8 digs in the two-match sweep.
Stump and Nathan Zini both earned Prime Performer awards after winning both matches this weekend. Zini powered the Red Flash in their two-match sweep of Catawba, totaling 20 kills across the weekend. He posted 12 kills in the first match while hitting an efficient .478. Zini also contributed 10 digs in the pair of victories.
WELCOME TO THE LO'
Three freshman are looking for their collegiate debut this weekend:
Gianluca Gomez (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Saint Joseph Metuchen),
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. He has registered 12 digs and one kill this year.
Jack Wolgemuth (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest) had six digs in his collegiate debut in the win against Northern Kentucky. After this weekend, he recorded 44 digs and four assists in total this season.
Derek Piatek (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mars Area) had his collegiate debut in the win against Northern Kentucky with an ace.
Tate Myatt (Chicago, Ill./Lane Tech) recorded his collegiate debut in a win against Roberts Wesleyan with a kill.
Luke Colquette (Highlands ranch, Colo./Mountain Vista) had his collegiate debut against Hawaii with a kill. He has had two kills so far this season.
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.
