CHARLESTON, IL- The Red Flash forced a fifth set and fended off three match points but ultimately fell 19-17 in the fifth set to the Fresno State Bulldogs at the EIU Panther Invite.
 
The Red Flash fell 25-16, 23-25, 25-19, 19-25, 19-17 to the Bulldogs despite a monster 17 kill 16 dig game from Madi Tyus (Plano, TX/Bishop Lynch) and a career high 14 kills from Nicole Adams (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa East).
 
 
SET ONE

• The Teams traded the first eight points of the set before a Madi Tyus (Plano, TX/Bishop Lynch) kill gave SFU their first lead at 5-4
• The Red Flash took the first two-point lead of the match off an Elise Dumouchelle (Ashburn, Va./Broad Run) service run that included an ace and a kill from Nicole Adams (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa East)
• The Bulldogs would erase SFU's biggest lead, 11-8, by winning seven of the next eight points and forcing a Red Flash timeout
• A kill from Emily Pieper (Paonia, Colo./Paonia) stopped the Fresno run, but the Bulldogs forced another SFU timeout after winning the next three points to take a 19-13 lead
• Fresno continued the momentum out of the timeout to take the first set at 25-16

 
SET TWO

• A pair of Alexis Lambert (McKinney, Tx./McKinney-Boyd) Kills and a Shannon Thomas (West Chester, Pa./Villa Maria) ace put SFU up 3-0 early
• Fresno State rallied back with three-straight points to even the score
• After the early runs, the teams traded the next six points
• SFU ran off four-straight points off a pair of Madi Tyus (Plano, TX/Bishop Lynch) kills to grab a 9-6 lead
• Nicole Adams (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa East) added her fourth kill of the match, sparking a run that gave SFU a 15-13 lead, stopping a Bulldog comeback
• Again, the Bulldogs would rally back to tie the set at 16 but a pair of bad sets gave SFU back the lead at 18-16, forcing a Fresno timeout
• Out of the timeout, a pair of Madi Tyus (Plano, TX/Bishop Lynch) kills put the Red Flash up 22-17, forcing another Bulldog timeout
• Fresno again would rally to tie the set at 23, forcing an SFU timeout
• A pair of Nicole Adams (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa East) kills gave SFU a hard-earned 25-23 set two win

 
SET THREE

• The teams would trade the first 16 points, as neither team led by more than one
• Fresno got the first rally of the game, scoring four-straight to force an SFU timeout
• A kill and ace from Alexis Lambert (McKinney, Tx./McKinney-Boyd) had SFU respond to tie the set at 12
• Fresno again rallied back, going up 16-12 to force another SFU timeout
• The Red Flash service game sparked another rally, Jess Barrett (Broadview Heights, OH/North Royalton) and Emily Pieper (Paonia, Colo./Paonia) each had an ace as SFU forced a timeout with the set tied at 18
• Fresno responded in a big way out of the stoppage, scoring seven of the next eight points to win the set 25-19

 
 
SET FOUR

• Again, neither team was able to grab momentum early, trading the lead for the first 14 points of the set
• The Red Flash would take a pair of two-point leads only to see Fresno come back to tie the set
• The turning point of the set was a three-point run highlighted by a Madi Tyus (Plano, TX/Bishop Lynch) kill and block that put SFU up 21-18
• The Flash extended the lead to 23-18, forcing a Fresno timeout
• The SFU defense would force a pair of attack errors from the Bulldogs, forcing a fifth set after a 25-19 win

 
SET FIVE

• A Tyus kill gave SFU an early lead at 3-2 in the race to 15
• Fresno would even the set at 4, then run off three-straight to lead 7-4 off an SFU attack error
• A Lambert kill would get the Red Flash to within three at the fifth set change over
• The Bulldogs maintained their three-point lead, going up 10-7 before a Cecilia Esposito (Coraopolis, Pa./Montour) block forced a Fresno timeout, as SFU got within two
• A Shannon Thomas (West Chester, Pa./Villa Maria) ace evened the match at 10
• Tyus and Pieper each had kills to even the set at 11 and again at 12
• Tyus' 16^th kill of the match put SFU up 13-12 and forced a final Fresno timeout
• Fresno rallied back to make it 15-14 Bulldogs and force a SFU timeout
• Madi Tyus (Plano, TX/Bishop Lynch) responded again to fend off match point with her 17^th kill
• A Nicole Adams (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa East) kill evened the match at 17 but Fresno would battle back to win 19-17

 
LOOKING AHEAD
The Red Flash will close out the opening weekend at 5 p.m. eastern as they take on the Iona Gaels to finish the EIU Panther Invite.