LORETTO, Pa. –  Charleston came out on top of a five-set thriller Friday night against Saint Francis University to remain unbeaten in the EIVA and pick up their eighth victory of the season.

Just the Basics


SCORE         
University of Charleston 3, Saint Francis University 2 (21-25, 25-22, 26-24, 19-25, 15-13)
 
TEAM RECORDS
Charleston (8-1, 3-0 EIVA)
Saint Francis (7-9, 2-2 EIVA)

How it Happened
 
Charleston rallied from down a set to take a 2-1 match lead before finally clinching their first EIVA road win in program history in the fifth set, 15-13. 
 
The Golden Eagles, despite a poor attack percentage in the opening set, had a slim 21-20 lead late in the game before the Flash closed out the set with five consecutive points to take a 1-0 lead over Charleston.  UC's attack came alive in the second game, hitting at .591 for the set to even the match at one game apiece, taking it 25-22.
 
A pivotal point in the match came in the third and it looked like UC would easily take a 2-1 advantage, holding three set points late in the game.  The Flash fought back and tied the set at 24-24, forcing UC Head Coach Dr. Stevens to take a timeout, which proved to be an effective one.  Saint Francis sent their next serve into the net that led to Max Senica's set clinching kill to take the set 26-24. 
 
The Flash put it all together in the fourth set, cruising to a 25-19 win to even the match at 2-2 and force the decisive fifth and final set.  Charleston was firing on all cylinders early in the fifth, jumping out to a 5-1 lead fueled by three Ryan Santos kills that forced the Flash to take a timeout.  At the switch the Golden Eagles still held a comfortable lead, 8-4, before things got interesting.  Out of the break Saint Francis scored the next five points to take their first lead of the set, 9-8, and seemed to have captured momentum of the match.  Following a Charleston timeout, the teams traded points until tied at 13-13 when UC dug deep to find a way to leave Loretto with a win. 
 
The Golden Eagles' Eugene Stuart came up with a big solo block from the middle to give UC match point at 14-13, setting up the game winner.  After a few scrambles by both teams, the ball made its way to Anthony Rivera who threw a perfect set to Max Senica on the outside, hitting through the Flash block to make its way to the hardwood and give Charleston the five-set victory.
 
UC Match Leaders
 
Kills – Max Senica (14), Ryan Santos (14)
Assists – Anthony Rivera (44)
Digs – Rivera (16)
Blocks – Adriel Roberts (3), Santos (2), Eugene Stuart (2)
Aces – Eugene Stuart (2)
 
NOTABLES
 

• Charleston captured their first EIVA road win since joining the conference in 2016, dropping their first 14 in the previous two seasons.

 
NEXT UP
Charleston returns to the court on Saturday evening at Penn State University in University Park, Pa.  First serve with the Nittany Lions is set for 7:00 p.m.


 
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