LORETTO, PA- Saint Francis fought off a pair of match points and rallied to force a fifth set against NEC-Leading LIU Brooklyn but the Blackbirds would outlast the Red Flash in five sets inside DeGol Arena on Friday night.
 
LIU would prevail 25-23, 25-27, 25-22, 25-27, 15-5 to move to 5-0 in Northeast Conference play while the Red Flash now sit at 1-3 in conference.
 
BOX SCORE LEADERS
The LIU Brooklyn defense carried them on Friday, recording 106 digs across the five sets to go along with 14.5 blocks. Natalia Rivera showed why she leads the conference in digs, posting a match high 33 on the night.  Viktoria Fink lived up to her billing as their top offensive threat, posting a team-high 19 kills.
 
For the Red Flash, it was the trio of Adams, Lambert and Tyus that led the offense, each posting double digit kills led by Adams' career-high 21. Five players posted double digit digs, led by freshman Jess Lambert with a career-high 31. Adams also added five block assists. SFU had four players record double doubles as Adams, Lambert and Tyus were joined by Amelia Metzler (Littleton, Colo./Chatfield) who had 51 assists and 18 digs.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
FIRST SET RECAP

• The first set laid the groundwork for the evening, with neither team able to get more than a two-point lead through the first 16 points
• LIU forced a timeout, scoring four-straight points to go up 12-9
• SFU responded with kills from Tyus and Adams and a Metzler ace to tie the set at 13
• The Red Flash would gain momentum midway through the set, winning six-of-seven points to turn a 16-15 game into a 22-16 lead
• LIU would not panic, getting a pair of blocks from the defense and forcing errors from the Red Flash to win six straight to re-tie the set
• Tyus would give the Red Flash the lead back 23-22, but LIU would get two more blocks as part of a 3-0 run to close the set at 25-23

 
SECOND SET RECAP

• LIU would continue their run into the second set, winning seven of the first 10 points, forcing a timeout
• Kills from Tyus and Lambert, and strong defense from SFU forced errors as the Red Flash chipped away at the lead
• Kills from Adams and a pair of LIU errors drew the Red Flash even at 12
• LIU again would build a lead, holding at least a three-point advantage until it was 21-18 Blackbirds
• A Tyus kill and a set error from LIU cut the deficit to one, but LIU would build the lead back out to 24-20
• SFU fought off four set points, getting kills from Lambert and Adams and an ace from Elise Dumouchelle (Ashburn, Va./Broad Run) to tie the set at 24
• LIU would take a 25-24 lead only to see two kills from Sophia Esposito (Coraopolis, PA/Montour (Gardner-Webb)) lead a 3-0 run to close the set as SFU returned the favor by taking set two 27-25

 
SET THREE RECAP

• Set three mirrored set two's start with LIU forcing an early SFU timeout after building a 10-6 lead
• SFU would play catchup the entire set, closing within two off a block by Madi Tyus (Plano, TX/Bishop Lynch) at 15-13 but couldn't get closer
• A combo block from Adams and Esposito was part of a 3-0 run that cut LIU's lead to 20-19 and forced a Blackbird timeout
• A Lambert kill again tried to jumpstart a comeback but LIU had an answer in set three, kills from Fink and Myrthe Maring closed out the set at 25-22 in favor of LIU

 
SET FOUR RECAP

• LIU quickly took control of the set, scoring six of the first eight points and building a 12-4 lead, forcing a pair of SFU timeouts
• Four kills from four different players started the SFU comeback as the cut the LIU lead in half
• SFU continued to chip away, a Daysha Shamlin (Bear, Del./Tower Hill) solo block and a Tyus kill cut the lead to two
• The Red Flash tied the match at 18 but were ruled out of rotation, eliminating the previous two points and awarding one to LIU, making it 19-16 Blackbirds
• LIU would settle for trading points with the Red Flash until 21-19, when Jess Barrett (Broadview Heights, OH/North Royalton) capped a service run with an ace to tie the set at 21
• SFU erased a 23-21 Blackbird lead with kills from Tyus and Shamlin, forcing a LIU timeout
• An Adams' kill fought off a match point as SFU tied the set at 25
• Adams would send the match to a deciding fifth with her 20^th kill of the night, giving SFU their second 27-25 set victory

FIFTH SET RECAP

• LIU quickly built a 3-0 lead on a trio of SFU errors, forcing a timeout
• SFU would cut the lead to 4-3 only to see LIU win four-straight points to take a five-point lead at the crossover
• A block from Adams and Esposito looked to spark the Red Flash out of the mid-set break
• LIU quickly squashed any comeback by getting two kills from Fink to build a 12-4 lead
• The Blackbirds would close out the set and the match on a combo block to take the deciding set 15-5

 
LOOKING AHEAD
The Red Flash will have a quick turnaround as St. Francis Brooklyn comes to town on Saturday. The Terriers lost in four sets to Robert Morris on Friday night and sit at 1-4 in the NEC. First serve is set for 5 p.m.