OXFORD, OH- The Red Flash got five blocks from Sophia Esposito (Coraopolis, PA/Montour (Gardner-Webb)) and a double double from Kimmy Sweeney (Broadview Heights, OH/Beaumont School) and Madi Tyus (Plano, TX/Bishop Lynch) but the defending Mid-American Conference champion Miami Red Hawks prevailed in four sets on Saturday night.

The Red Flash took the first set 25-20 but fell 20-25, 25-19, 25-16, 25-17 to close out non-conference play.

RED FLASH LEADERS
Sophia Esposito (Coraopolis, PA/Montour (Gardner-Webb)) had five total blocks while younger sister Cecilia Esposito (Coraopolis, Pa./Montour) added four as SFU totaled 10 blocks as a team. Offensively, Madi Tyus (Plano, TX/Bishop Lynch) had 11 kills and four different players recorded an ace.

FIRST SET RECAP

• SFU raced out to a 6-1 lead off of kills by Tyus and Cecilia Esposito (Coraopolis, Pa./Montour), who also had a block
• Esposito and Nicole Adams (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa East) kept the lead at five with kills to make it 8-3, stopping a Miami run
• Sophia Esposito (Coraopolis, PA/Montour (Gardner-Webb)) had a kill and a block to extend the lead out to eight at 16-8
• Miami would rally off three-straight before a Cecilia Esposito (Coraopolis, Pa./Montour) kill and a Shannon Thomas (West Chester, Pa./Villa Maria) ace brought the lead back out to seven
• Alexis Lambert (McKinney, Tx./McKinney-Boyd) had two kills down the stretch and Jess Barrett (Broadview Heights, OH/North Royalton) had an ace to again stop a Miami run and make it 22-15
• SFU would close out the set at 25-20 to take the early lead

SECOND SET RECAP

• A Lambert kill capped a three-point run early as SFU grabbed a 4-2 lead
• Miami would force SFU to take its first time out, running off four-straight to lead 7-5
• The Red Hakws would maintain the advantage throughout the set with SFU getting within one at 11-10 off a Tyus kill
• A Miami error would get SFU even at 12 but the Red Hawks would run off a 5-1 run to lead 17-13
• A second SFU timeout couldn't slow the momentum as the Miami lead grew to as many as eight
• The Flash would only get as close as five the rest of the way as Miami drew even after a 25-19 set two win

THIRD SET RECAP

• Neither team would lead by more than two as the teams traded the first 14 points of the set
• Miami would force a timeout after scoring four straight and leading 11-7
• Out of the timeout, a Tyus kill brought the Red Flash within two at 12-10
• The Red Hawks would answer out of their own timeout with three straight to lead 15-10
• A Cecilia Esposito (Coraopolis, Pa./Montour) and Lambert combo block and a Tyus kill looked to jump start the offense and pull SFU within four
• Miami would close on a 7-2 run to pull away with the set at 25-16

FOURTH SET RECAP

• Six-straight points by Miami set the tone for the set and forced an SFU timeout
• A Sophia Esposito (Coraopolis, PA/Montour (Gardner-Webb)) kill stopped the run, but Miami answered with four more to lead by nine
• Kills by Tyus and Adams looked to get SFU going but Miami would answer, stretching the lead back out to 11 after three straight points
• Out of the timeout, the Red Flash would force a pair of errors and a Tyus kill looked to get the offense going
• A block from Sophia Esposito (Coraopolis, PA/Montour (Gardner-Webb)) and a kill from a senior was followed by an ace from Elise Dumouchelle (Ashburn, Va./Broad Run) to get SFU within eight
• Alexis Lambert (McKinney, Tx./McKinney-Boyd) followed suit with an ace as SFU made it 21-14
• A Nicole Adams (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa East), Sophia Esposito (Coraopolis, PA/Montour (Gardner-Webb)) combo block got SFU to within six at 23-17
• But SFU would get no closer as Miami closed out the match with the next two points to take set four 25-17

LOOKING AHEAD
The Red Flash will head to CCSU and Bryant next weekend to start NEC play. Bryant is up first on Friday night, first serve is set for 6 p.m.