Saint Francis Snaps Losing Skid, Eyes Set on East Stroudsburg

ERIE, Pa. (Apr. 2, 2008) – Sophomore Jordan Varee (Meadville, Pa. / Conneaut Valley) had 17 kills and hit .481 on 27 swings in leading the Saint Francis men’s volleyball team to a much-needed 3-1 victory over Mercyhurst College on Wednesday night in Erie.

The Red Flash snapped a seven match losing streak, four of which came against ranked opponents, and won their first away match of the season by game scores of 30-22, 29-31, 30-23, 30-26. SFU was winless in seven previous matches on an opposing team’s court so far on the season.

Varee, who also had one ace and two blocks, paced four Saint Francis players in double-figure scoring. Sophomore Nick Rivett (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Fox Chapel) had 13 kills and five blocks, sophomore Patrick McManamon (Huntingdon, Pa. / Huntingdon) added nine kills, two aces and three blocks with an impressive .750 hitting percentage on 12 swings with no errors, and sophomore Alex Fortney (York, Pa. / Central York) had eight kills, one ace and two blocks. Senior Mark Steele (Martinsburg, Pa. / Central Martinsburg) and junior Shane Conley (Pittsburgh, Pa. / North Allegheny) shared time at setter, where they had 25 and 30 assists, respectively.

The Red Flash hit .410 for the match and had 11 blocks to six for Mercyhurst. The Lakers hit just .182 for the match.

Dave Newman led Mercyhurst, and all players, with 19 kills, while David Hatten dished out 46 assists.

Saint Francis improved to 10-13 overall with the win and will look to solidify its EIVA playoff seeding when it visits East Stroudsburg at 7 p.m. on Friday.

Notes: Varee’s 17 kills helped him pass his season total of 339 kills from last season, which was his freshman campaign. He now has 351 kills on the season, which is second all-time for a single season and 74 shy of Marc Honore’s record of 425… McManamon’s 99 blocks on the season are fifth for a single-season in school history… Conley is now the school’s all-time leader in assists with 3,107.