Men's Volleyball | 3/19/2026 10:11:00 AM
Friday, March 20 | Daemen | Loretto, Pa. | DeGol Arena | 6 p.m. | LIVE STATS | WATCH LIVE
Saturday, March 21 | Daemen | Loretto, Pa. | DeGol Arena | 3 p.m. | LIVE STATS | WATCH LIVE
OPENING SERVE VS DAEMEN
Saint Francis faces Daemen for the 11th and 12th time since 2019. The Red Flash were on a 6-0 winning streak against the Wildcats until 2024 where Saint Francis fell 1-3 in the NEC Championship. The Red Flash still lead with seven wins while the Wildcats have three wins. This weekend Saint Francis is aiming to add two more wins into their column.
THE WORD ON THE WILDCATS
Daemen is currently 10-8 on the season after ending on a 15-13 record in 2025. Daemen beat Saint Francis last year during the NEC Volleyball Championship. So far this year, the Wildcats have lost to No. 10 UC San Diego, No. 4 Pepperdine, Mount Olive, Charleston (W.Va.), NJIT, Purdue Fort Wayne, Sacred Heart, and split with Manhattan. They then beat Roberts Wesleyan twice, Northern Kentucky, American International, Dominican (N.Y.), St. Thomas Aquinas, D'Youville twice, and Judson (Ill.). Daemen has two main players that are leading them right now. Redshirt sophomore Patrick Mullen is leading his team with 217 kills, second in aces (24), third in digs (89), and fourth in blocks (33). Billy Wieberg is the second key player for the Wildcats. The redshirt senior is first in aces (29), second in kills (156), fourth in digs (83), and fifth in blocks (24).
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 Red Flash will travel to Virginia to face George Mason on March 27 and 28. The first serve will be at 7:00 p.m. on Friday and 5:00 p.m. on Saturday.
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 two-time NEC Player of the Week has recorded 189 kills, 70 digs, 32 aces, and 15 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 74 kills, 35 blocks, 16 digs, and a hitting percentage of .405.
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 356 assists, 49 digs, 19 kills, and 12 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 46 digs and 15 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 114 kills, 67 digs, 13 blocks, and 12 aces in his return to volleyball.
NEC HONORS
Brayden Kuruzovich and Luke Colquette both named Prime Performers after last weekend's match ups. Kuruzovich earned this award for his tremendous all-around performance in the second win over UMES. As the team setter, he led the offense with 26 assists, consistently putting hitters in position to score and helping the team maintain an effective rhythm. He also made a strong impact defensively with seven digs, while contributing offensively with three kills and applying pressure from the service line with three aces. He had a perfect attacking percentage with 1.000. Kuruzovich's ability to contribute in multiple phases of the match and lead the team's offense played a major role in securing the victory to sweep.
Freshman Colquette led the Red Flash to victory on Friday night against UMES with an outstanding performance. He totaled 10 kills while hitting an impressive .421, providing a consistent and efficient offensive presence. Colquette also contributed defensively with six digs and made an impact at the net with three assisted blocks. His strong all-around play on both offense and defense played a key role in the team's win.
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 19 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 68 digs and 7 assists in total this season.
Derek Piatek (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mars Area) had his collegiate debut in the win against Northern Kentucky with an ace. This season he has one ace, one dig, and one kill.
Tate Myatt (Chicago, Ill./Lane Tech) recorded his collegiate debut in a win against Roberts Wesleyan with a kill. He has five kills, three blocks, one assist, and one ace.
Luke Colquette (Highlands ranch, Colo./Mountain Vista) had his collegiate debut against Hawaii with a kill. He has had 18 kills, seven digs, and three blocks 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.
