Flash Points

• The Red Flash fell in three tough sets 25-21, 25-21, 25-23
• Madi Tyus (Plano, TX/Bishop Lynch) led the Red Flash with a double double of 11 kills and 20 digs
• Emily Pieper (Paonia, Colo./Paonia) added eight kills and led with 18 assists

CHARLESTON, IL- The Saint Francis Red Flash opened the 2018 campaign with a tough-three set loss to the host school Eastern Illinois at the Panther Invite on Friday afternoon. 

The Red Flash fell 25-21, 25-21, 25-23 in the opening match of the season for both teams. Freshman Madi Tyus (Plano, TX/Bishop Lynch) led the charge with a double double of 11 kills and 20 digs while Alexis Lambert (McKinney, Tx./McKinney-Boyd) also had 11 kills. Sophomore Emily Pieper (Paonia, Colo./Paonia) did a little bit of everything for SFU, narrowly missing a triple-double recording eight kills, 12 digs and leading the team with 18 assists.

SET ONE

• The teams traded the first eighteen points of the game, with neither team leading by more than three in the early stages
• A Tyus kill and a combo block from Nicole Adams (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa East) and Sophie Rice (Mechanicsburg, PA/Cumberland Valley) helped erase a three-point EIU lead and tied the game at 14
• EIU responded with three straight of their own only to see Tyus and Lambert respond to tie the match again at 18
• The turning point of the set came when the Panthers scored three of the next four points, forcing an SFU timeout
• A Lambert kill got the Red Flash back with in three at 24-21, but could get no closer
• EIU closed out the first set 25-21

SET TWO

• EIU jumped out to a quick 7-4 lead in the second but the SFU defense rose to the occasion, stopping three-straight attacks to tie the set at 7
• A Sophie Rice (Mechanicsburg, PA/Cumberland Valley) kill ended a six-point exchange between the teams, tying the match at 10
• The Panthers tried taking control of the set, winning seven-straight points and forcing a pair of SFU timeouts
• SFU responded with five-straight with kills from four different players and a combo block to make it a two-point game
• A pair of Pieper kills made it 18-17 EIU and forced a Panther timeout
• Two SFU serving errors proved costly late as the Red Flash could never draw even
• EIU won the final three points of the set to take it 25-21

SET THREE

• Two Nicole Adams (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa East) kills and an Adams' combo block helped SFU run off five-straight to lead 5-2 in the third
• The runs continued as EIU rallied back to tie it only to see SFU score four straight off thanks to an ace and nice service run from Shannon Thomas (West Chester, Pa./Villa Maria)
• A Madi Tyus (Plano, TX/Bishop Lynch) kill put the Flash back up three, but EIU rallied back to knot the set at 15
• The teams would trade points until it was 21-all when kills from Pieper and Lambert put SFU up 23-21 and forced an EIU timeout
• The Panthers responded with three kills and a block to score the final four points of the set and the match

LOOKING AHEAD
SFU is right back at it Friday evening, closing their first day at the Panther Invite with the Valparaiso Crusaders. Valpo dropped their first match of the tourney in five sets to Fresno State