LORETTO, PA- The Bryant Bulldogs rallied back against the Red Flash, spoiling the start of homecoming weekend with a five-set victory on Friday night inside DeGol Arena.
 
The Bulldogs defeated the Red Flash 19-25, 25-14, 21-25, 25-20, 15-11 to move to 6-2 in NEC play while the Red Flash drop to 3-5 in conference.
 
BOX SCORE LEADERS
The Red Flash got double-doubles from Nicole Adams (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa East) (18 kills, 15 digs) and Alexis Lambert (McKinney, Tx./McKinney-Boyd) (17and 10) to lead the SFU offense. For Bryant, their balanced attack continued with three players (Kirstyn Perry, Julia Flynn and Caroline Kennedy) all posting double-digit kills.
 
Defensively, both teams put multiple people into double figures in digs. The Red Flash posted four, led by Jess Barrett's (Broadview Heights, OH/North Royalton) 27. The Bulldogs had five in double figures as Erika Ward matched Barrett's 27-dig effort.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
FIRST SET RECAP

• Julia Flynn got the Bulldogs off to a quick start with a trio of kills as the Bulldogs took an early lead
• A block and a kill from Sophia Esposito (Coraopolis, PA/Montour (Gardner-Webb)) got the Red Flash even at seven
• Bryant would force an SFU timeout after four kills and an ace put the Bulldogs up 14-10
• The Bulldogs would maintain a four-point lead at 16-12 before the Red Flash would go on a run
• Kills from Alexis Lambert (McKinney, Tx./McKinney-Boyd) and Amelia Metzler (Littleton, Colo./Chatfield) were part of a run that drew the Red Flash even at 17 and forced a Bryant timeout
• SFU would surge ahead 21-18 after the Red Flash defense would force a trio of attack errors from Bryant
• Kills from Madi Tyus (Plano, TX/Bishop Lynch) and Sophia Esposito (Coraopolis, PA/Montour (Gardner-Webb)) got the Red Flash on the doorstep of a set one win and Jess Barrett (Broadview Heights, OH/North Royalton) closed out the set with an ace
• SFU would close the set on a 15-5 run to take set one 25-19

 
SECOND SET RECAP

• The Red Flash and Bulldogs would split the first six points of the set as kills from Lambert would pace the offense early
• Bryant would force a Saint Francis timeout after a trio of attack errors from the Red Flash gave Bryant a 10-4 lead and closed a 5-0 run
• Kills from Esposito, Madi Tyus (Plano, TX/Bishop Lynch) and Nicole Adams (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa East) continued to pace the offense but the Red Flash settled for trading points with the Bulldogs
• The Bulldogs would put the set out of reach with another run, stretching the lead out to at 22-13, forcing another timeout
• Bryant evened up the set at one each after a 25-14 set two victory

 
THIRD SET RECAP

• For the third-straight set, the teams started dead even, this time splitting the first 14 points
• SFU would get kills from four different players during the early stages of the set
• Alexis Lambert (McKinney, Tx./McKinney-Boyd) would give SFU the first two-point lead of the set for either team at 11-9 with a kill
• The Bulldogs would rally back to tie the set at 13 and took their first two-point lead at 15-13, prompting an SFU timeout
• A kill from Nicole Adams (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa East) would get the Red Flash back to even at 17-each and added another kill to put SFU up 19-17, forcing another Bryant timeout
• SFU wouldn't surrender the lead the rest of the set, only allowing Bryant to get within one on a pair of occasions
• Sophia Esposito (Coraopolis, PA/Montour (Gardner-Webb)) spiked another kill and a pair of Bryant errors gave SFU a 2-1 lead after a 25-21 set three victory

 
SET FOUR RECAP

• Bryant would race out to a 5-2 lead early in the fourth set
• The Bulldogs would maintain a lead through the early part of the set with kills from Esposito and Lambert would get the Red Flash within one
• A 4-0 run from the Bulldogs stretch the lead back out to five and prompted a Red Flash timeout at 12-7
• The Red Flash would rally back with three-straight points, closing the Bryant lead to 13-11
• Again, the Bulldogs would string together a run, forcing a SFU timeout with three-straight points to lead 16-11
• Bryant would maintain that five-point lead, trading points with the Red Flash until it was 21-16
• A Daysha Shamlin (Bear, Del./Tower Hill) block, a kill from Tyus and a pair of Bryant errors led to a big Red Flash run that closed the lead to one and forced a Bryant timeout
• The Bulldogs responded out of the time out with a 4-0 blitz with four kills, sending the match to a decisive fifth set after a 25-20 victory

 
FIFTH SET RECAP

• Three kills from three different players got the Red Flash off to a quick 3-1 lead
• The Red Flash kept a lead until Bryant rallied with four-straight points to grab to take an 8-7 lead at the changeover
• Bryant forced a pair of SFU timeouts after winning four-of-five points to lead 12-9
• Elise Dumouchelle (Ashburn, Va./Broad Run) fired an ace and a kill from Nicole Adams (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa East) looked to spark the Red Flash, closing the Bryant lead to one at 12-11, forcing a Bryant timeout
• Bryant responded out of the timeout with three-straight points, closing out the set and the match with a 15-11 victory

 
Saint Francis will look to have a short memory as they take on the CCSU Blue Devils to close out homecoming Saturday. First serve is set for 5 p.m. from DeGol Arena.