The Red Flash men’s volleyball team opens its home season with a match against No. 3 ranked Hawaii on Wednesday, Jan. 28, at the Stokes Center.
The match begins at 7 p.m.
Saint Francis was set to play Queens and Daemen in a home tournament last weekend, but the event was cancelled due to the snowstorm that pounded the region.
As of Jan. 28, the American Volleyball Coaches Association has Hawaii (7-1) ranked third in the country.
“It means a lot to us to have a team like Hawaii come to our gym for our home opener,” said Brady Stump, a senior outside/opposite hitter and Early Education major.
“All of us seniors are psyched to have our final home-opener against such an opponent.”
The Red Flash enter the match with a record of 2-2, losing two matches at nationally ranked Brigham Young (Jan. 9-10) and taking two matches on the road against first-year program Northern Kentucky (Jan. 16-17).
“I think that [playing BYU and Hawaii] just shows the kind of program that has been built at Saint Francis over the years”, said Kyle Charles, a sophomore setter and Management major.
“Even though we are going through this [Division I to Division III] transition, we are still competing against some of the top teams in the country.”
The Red Flash return seven of eight starters from last season.
“I think our success this year will come from being such a well-rounded team and having a lot of depth”, said Charles. “We have a lot of older guys on the team with more experience than we did last year.”
Both Charles and Stump are returning starters and both were named All-NEC First Team in 2025. Charles was the league’s NEC Rookie-of-the-Year a season ago
“It is awesome that Hawaii is able to make the trip out to Loretto,” said Charles. “I’m definitely expecting to have a big crowd and I’m really looking forward to it.”
