The men’s volleyball team captured the inaugural NEC regular-season title in the sport last Saturday, defeating Daemen, 3-1, at DeGol Arena to extend its winning streak to eight matches entering the postseason.

The match against Daemen was a battle for the league’s first-ever men’s volleyball regular-season title. The NEC began sponsoring the sport this season. SFU had previously competed in the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association.

With last weekend’s victory over the Wildcats, SFU (15-11, 12-2 NEC) earned the right to host the 2023 NEC Tournament this week (see bracket). The top-seeded Flash will face the winner of the four-versus-five match on Thursday at 7 p.m. in DeGol Arena. The match will be streamed on both ESPN3 and NECFrontRow.

SFU is 8-2 in Loretto this season.

During the team’s winning streak, SFU has won in dominating fashion with only one team – second-seeded Daemen – pushing SFU to five games. The Flash won, 3-2, at Daemen on March 25 in the two teams’ first match-up. If the Flash and Wildcats both win their semifinal matches on Thursday, they will face off a third time on Saturday with the league title on the line.

In last week’s match between the two teams, sophomore Andrew Deardorff recorded 23 kills in SFU’s 3-1 victory. Junior Ryan Parker was also key to the win for head coach Mike Rumbaugh’s team, delivering 48 assists, three service aces and eight digs.