FAIRFIELD, CT- Madi Tyus (Plano, TX/Bishop Lynch) and Alexis Lambert (McKinney, Tx./McKinney-Boyd) each posted double-doubles but key points late in the sets and a triple double from Sacred Heart's Sarah Ciszek gave the Pioneers a tight three set victory 27-25, 25-23, 31-29 on Friday night inside the Pitt Center on the campus of Sacred Heart. 

BOX SCORE LEADERS
Madi Tyus (Plano, TX/Bishop Lynch) posted an even 14-kill, 14-dig double double while Lambert added 12 kills, 13 digs and two aces. Nicole Adams (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa East) also added 12 kills, keeping that three-headed attack true to form. Adams and Daysha Shamlin (Bear, Del./Tower Hill) led the defense with four block assists each. For the Pioneers, it was Sarah Ciszek who led the way with 12 kills, 15 digs and 33 assists for the coveted volleyball triple-double. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST SET RECAP

• The first set laid the groundwork for the entire match, Sacred Heart took a pair of early leads only to see SFU battle back to tie it
• SFU found themselves down 8-6 but a pair of Shamlin and Adams combo blocks led a 4-0 run to give the Red Flash the lead
• A pair of Lambert kills gave the Red Flash their largest lead of three at 15-12, forcing a Pioneer timeout
• SHU battled back to tie the set at 16, only to see a trio of attack errors give the Red Flash back the lead at 19-16
• The Red Flash would hold the lead through 23-21 and had a set point at 24-23, but a kill and block from the Pioneers gave them a 25-24 edge
• After Sophia Esposito (Coraopolis, PA/Montour (Gardner-Webb)) tied the set at 25 with a kill, the Pioneers took the first set on one of their six aces of the night to take the first set 27-25

SECOND SET RECAP

• The start of the second set mirrored the first, SHU took an early lead but Saint Francis erased a 5-2 Pioneer lead with five-straight points
• Three different players had kills during the run and Esposito and Lambert combined on a block as well
• An ace and a kill from Lambert and another Esposito block helped keep the momentum with SFU to give them a three-point lead at 11-8
• Again, SHU battled back to tie the set at 12 and again SFU pulled ahead at 15-12 off kills from Tyus and Shamlin
• The Pioneers chipped away at the Red Flash lead, forcing a timeout after four kills from Liisel Nelis gave SHU a 20-19 lead
• The Pioneers extended that lead to 23-19 before three-straight from the Red Flash cut the lead to one off a pair of Tyus kills
• The late charge from the Red Flash was too late as the Red Flash fought off one set point but no more, dropping set two 25-23

SET THREE RECAP

• Set three took a different note, as Saint Francis scored five of the first six points of the set, an ace from Madi Tyus (Plano, TX/Bishop Lynch) fueled the run and forced a timeout
• Again, Sacred Heart chipped away at the lead, knotting the set at eight and taking their first lead off a pair of aces from Lauren Middlemass
• The Red Flash would retake the lead at 12-11 but four-straight points from the Pioneers forced an SFU timeout down 15-12
• The lead would grow to as many as four at 18-14 before Lambert ripped off a kill and an ace to help cut the lead back to one at 18-17
• The Pioneers would grow the lead back to four at 21-17 but again it would be two kills from Lambert that would help SFU stave off defeat and tie the set at 24
• SFU would fight off match points at 25-24, 26-25, and 27-26 before a Tyus kill would give SFU a chance to close the set at 28-27
• Tyus would again put the Red Flash on the doorstep with a kill to make it 29-28, but a kill, block and ace by the Pioneers rallied SHU and gave them the set and the match at 31-29

LOOKING AHEAD
The Red Flash will not have much time to dwell on the close defeat. They are back in action at Fairleigh Dickinson tomorrow evening. First serve from New Jersey is set for 5 p.m. and can be seen on NEC Front Row.