Saint Francis University

Season Outlook  

The Saint Francis men's volleyball team enters the 2007 campaign having come off the best season in program history, and now they have hopes of besting last year's records and accomplishments.

The Red Flash posted a 17-10 record on their way to the school's first-ever appearance in the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association championship match, at Penn State. Saint Francis knocked off Division III national champion Juniata, and second seed George Mason, which was ranked No. 12 in the nation, to earn a spot against the Nittany Lions. It marked the first-ever all-Pennsylvania EIVA Final.

For his team's accomplishments, head coach Mike Rumbaugh was named the 2006 EIVA Coach-of-the-Year. He returns four starters from last year's battled-tested squad, including All-EIVA honorees Shane Conley (setter), Marc Honore (middle hitter) and Zach Nanni (libero), in addition to Travis Fox (outside hitter).

"After making it to the EIVA Championship last season, Saint Francis can know longer fly under the radar," Rumbaugh said. "It was such a great feeling knowing that we were one of the last six teams to be playing with one week left until the national championship match. This year's returning starters were the primary reason why we did so well.  Travis, Zach and Shane take care of the ball for us. They seem to be everywhere in the back court passing, digging and setting so guys like Jim Fazzini (graduation) and Marc Honore could finish the play with big swings."

The Red Flash will fill the holes left by the departures of Jim Fazzini (graduation), Cory Spencer (transfer) and John Sherrick (transfer) with very talented freshmen. Nick Rivett is expected to win the battle at outside hitter, while Jordan Varee will carry a big load at opposite, and Pat McManamon, Pete Freyer and Brent Way will fight it out in a three-way battle in the middle.

Conley earned respect on the EIVA All-East Second Team as a freshman, gaining valuable experience as the team's starting setter. His playing time in the EIVA playoffs will only add to his ability to perform in big situations. Conley dished out 1,096 assists last season, second on the school's all-time list and just 21 shy of Chad O'Brien's school record, which was set in 2001.

"The ball handlers are still with us as well as Marc Honore," Rumbaugh added. "Travis is coming on as an attacker to watch, as well as newcomers Nick Rivett and Jordan Varee. Since Honore is going to be so well respected in the middle, Shane will have an easy time getting Travis, Nick and Jordan more swings with open space to pound away at."

Junior Mark Steele returns as an experienced back-up setter, and will also play at opposite.

"Mark is an extremely valuable asset to our program," Rumbaugh said. "He is put into a very difficult role. He has to hit and pass for part of practice, but then he runs the offense as the setter during the other parts of practice. He is one of the most improved players on this squad."

Newcomers Tyler Mattera and Mark Schultze will be the back-ups at libero. Senior Brian Higginbotham, and freshmen Alex Fortney, Chad Marston and Dave Reilly are all very capable outside hitters who are ready to step in when called upon. Senior Paul Ronevich and freshman J.P. Mansberger are universal reserves looking for a chance to play.

The Red Flash had a lot of firsts in 2006, including the program's first-ever wins over Rutgers-Newark and Princeton, and the first win over a Division I ranked opponent (George Mason). The school advanced to the EIVA Championship Match for the first time in school history, and the goals this season are to repeat last season's accomplishments, as well as add some more firsts to the program's achievements.

"Our first goal is to win the EIVA," Rumbaugh said. "This is a realistic goal that our team believes. They are working very hard toward getting there."

The strength of the Red Flash has been in their ball control, and this year should be no different.

"We pass and set extremely well," Rumbaugh added. "Our offense will always run through the middle hitters, and once we establish a strong presence in the middle then we open things up by setting both antennas and letting the outside hitters do their thing."

With All-America, and EIVA Player-of-the-Year, candidate Honore controlling the middle, look for Saint Francis to do some exciting things in 2007.

The Red Flash play a very challenging schedule with home-and-home series set up with nationally ranked programs such as Ball State, Ohio State, George Mason, IPFW and Penn State.

"We cross over to play MIVA top seeds Ohio State, Ball State and IPFW in home and away series," Rumbaugh said. "We travel to the west coast to play Pacific and UC-Santa Cruz, and the EIVA Tait Division will be very tough again this year. We are very much looking forward to these tests."