Men's Volleyball | 2/5/2026 9:28:00 AM
Friday, February 6 | Penn State | University Park, Pa. | Rec Hall | 7 p.m. | LIVE STATS | WATCH LIVE
Saturday, February 7 | Penn State | Loretto, Pa. | DeGol Arena | 6 p.m. | LIVE STATS | WATCH LIVE
OPENING SERVE VS PENN STATE
Saint Francis and Penn State will compete in its 39th and 40th matches of all time dating back to 1985 when the Red Flash and Nittany Lions were in the same conference. This is the fourth year in a row that these teams have faced each other with one home and one away game on the same weekend. Both Penn State's head coach and Saint Francis's head coach are top three in the NCAA with most wins. The last time that the Red Flash won against the Nittany Lions was back in 2017. Mark Pavlik, Penn State's head coach, is retiring after this season concluding his 32-years coaching. Pavlik is looking to get two more win against the Red Flash before he retires but
Mike Rumbaugh is hoping for two more to add to his record.
THE WORD ON THE NITTANY LIONS
The Nittany Lions are going into the weekend with a 4-4 overall record. They are currently on a four-game losing streak after beating Mount Olive, Manhattan, St. Thomas Aquinas, and No. 9 Lewis. Penn State has lost to No. 15 McKendree and #3 Hawai'i twice each. Penn State is bringing back a redshirt sophomore who is leading in kills (94) and has 46 digs on the season. The second returner that has helped the Nittany Lions is Owen Rose, a middle blocker who leads his team in blocks with 30.
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 is back home one last time before heading on the road for a while. They face Catawba on February 20 at 7 p.m. and 21 at 6 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 87 kills, 27 digs, 12 aces, and five 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 33 kills, nine digs, and a hitting percentage of .369.
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 182 assists, 27 digs, 11 kills, and eight 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 22 digs and seven 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 53 kills, 33 digs, 10 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 Prime Performer after aiding in two wins over the weekend.
Stump recorded 39 kills, 12 digs, and five aces in the two wins against Roberts Wesleyan. In the first game, Stump had 23 kills, seven digs and three aces in the five-set thriller. During the second match, he aided the Red Flash with 16 kills, five digs, and two aces in the 3-1 win. He also threw in five kills against No. 3 Hawaii.
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 seven 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 32 digs 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.
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.
