Men's Volleyball | 4/2/2026 6:46:00 PM
Friday, March 27 | George Mason | Fairfax, Va. | Recreation Athletic Complex | 7 p.m. | LIVE STATS | WATCH LIVE
Saturday, March 28 | George Mason | Fairfax, Va. | Recreation Athletic Complex | 5 p.m. | LIVE STATS | WATCH LIVE
OPENING SERVE VS MANHATTAN
Saint Francis faces Manhattan for the first time in program history this weekend. This is Manhattan's first year being a program. They have 13 freshmen, one sophomore, one junior, and one graduate student. Chris Schortgen, the current head coach, arrived at Manhattan after serving as head coach of the Hunter College men's volleyball program the past three seasons. During his time on the Upper East Side, Schortgen led Hunter to the CUNY Championship Game in each season and was twice named CUNYAC Coach of the Year (2022, 2023)
THE WORD ON THE JASPERS
Manhattan is coming into this season with an 8-13 record. So far, they have lost to No. 13 Penn State, Sacred Heart, No. 7 Loyola Chicago, No. 9 Lewis, Dominican, George Mason twice, No. 19 NJIT, LIU twice, split with Daemen, Harvard, Barry, beat D'Youville twice, FDU twice, and Roosevelt once. Transfer student Kasen Owens is currently leading Manhattan with 184 kills, second in aces (23), third in digs (92), and assists (28). Another transfer, Wojtek Nowak, leads his team in aces (27), second in kills (172), digs (105) assists (28), and fifth in blocks (36).
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 back to New York to face D'Youville on April 10 and 11. The first serve will start at 7:00 p.m.
RETURNERS TO TALK ABOUT
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 504 assists, 79 digs, 28 kills, and 19 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 62 digs and 18 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 156 kills, 86 digs, 20 blocks, and 16 aces in his return to volleyball.
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 231 kills, 77 digs, 39 aces, and 17 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 92 kills, 46 blocks, 19 digs, and a hitting percentage of .428.
NEC HONORS
Kyle Charles was the lone prime performer for men's volleyball after last weekends two matches against George Mason. Charles delivered an impressive performance despite Saint Francis falling short in a hard-fought five-set thriller. He showcased his playmaking ability with 39 assists while contributing defensively with eight digs, adding three kills and an outstanding 4.29 hitting percentage. Charles followed up that effort with another strong showing in the second match, tallying 38 assists and 15 digs, while also recording two service aces.
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 20 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 98 digs and 10 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 11 digs, eight kills, and two aces.
Tate Myatt (Chicago, Ill./Lane Tech) recorded his collegiate debut in a win against Roberts Wesleyan with a kill. He has eight kills, five blocks, two assist, and one ace.
Luke Colquette (Highlands ranch, Colo./Mountain Vista) had his collegiate debut against Hawaii with a kill. He has had 22 kills, eight 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.
