Loretto, Pa. — The Saint Francis men's volleyball team (1-0) opened the season with a thriller, upsetting No. 7 Stanford (2-1) in five sets after trailing 0-2.
After beginning the match back and forth, Stanford pulled away after leading 9-8. The Cardinal finished the set on a 16-7 run to take it, 25-15.
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Set two showed the Red Flash with a bit more life. After finding itself down 19-13, SFU climbed back into the set and cut the lead to four at 22-18. Stanford channeled the run and closed out the second set at 25-19.
The Red Flash began its turnaround in set three. With its back against the wall at 0-2, SFU jumped out to a 7-1 lead and never looked back. Stanford cut it to 11-10, then 17-16, but the Red Flash never squandered the lead and won 25-19.
Even without class in session, fans packed the gym and brought the noise in a great volleyball atmosphere. With momentum on its side, SFU only trailed in set four at 1-0. From there, the Red Flash led the rest of the way while seeing ties at 2-2, 13-13 and 14-14 and never leading by more than three. The set ended 25-23.
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Michael Fisher started the fifth set by registering one of his career-high 29 kills from a Gabe Woffindin assist. The Red Flash stepped up and held a commanding lead at 9-4 in the shortened set. Stanford was looking for a run but never found it, only cutting it to 9-7. SFU jumped back out to a five-point lead and wrapped the set and match, 15-11.
