OXFORD, OH- Three players record double-doubles but Oakland (MI) won a back-and-forth four setter in the opening match for the Red Flash at the Oxford Invite hosted by Miami of Ohio.

Saint Francis would fall to the Grizzlies 25-23, 24-26, 25-15, 28-26 in the opening match of the weekend for the Red Flash and the closing match for Oakland.

RED FLASH LEADERS
Alexis Lambert (McKinney, Tx./McKinney-Boyd) had a career high 17 kills to go with 16 digs while Madi Tyus (Plano, TX/Bishop Lynch) added 16 kills and 11 digs. Kimmy Sweeney (Broadview Heights, OH/Beaumont School) made it three players with double-doubles with 28 assists and 10 digs while Nicole Adams (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa East) added 10 kills and Jess Barrett (Broadview Heights, OH/North Royalton) added 20 digs.


FIRST SET RECAP

• Neither team could get a lead early, splitting the first eight points
• Oakland got the first two-point lead of the day, with a pair of kills to go up 7-5
• A kill from Emily Pieper (Paonia, Colo./Paonia) and an ace from Alexis Lambert (McKinney, Tx./McKinney-Boyd) erased the lead, tying the match at 7
• The Grizzlies would again build a two-point lead and traded points with the Red Flash for much of the middle points of the set
• An ace from Amelia Metzler (Littleton, Colo./Chatfield) and another Lambert kill brought the Red Flash even again, this time at 15
• After a Tyus kill tied the set at 16, Oakland ran off three-straight points to force an SFU timeout
• The Grizzlies would push the lead to as many as four, forcing the final SFU timeout at 24-20
• SFU responded with three-straight points capped by a Madi Tyus (Plano, TX/Bishop Lynch) kill to force an Oakland timeout
• The Grizzlies would stop the SFU run and close the first set with a kill at 25-23

SECOND SET RECAP

• SFU answered a three-point run by Oakland with one of their own to lead 4-3 to start the second set
• Oakland would force a timeout after running off four-straight points to lead 11-7 as the teams continued to trade momentum
• The Red Flash would chip away at the lead, drawing even at 15 off an attack error and a kill from Nicole Adams (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa East)
• Kills from Tyus and Lambert would again erase an Oakland lead and gave SFU an 18-17 advantage
• Neither team could gain momentum late with the match seeing ties at 21, 22, 23, and 24
• A Lambert kill put SFU up 25-24, and a Tyus kill finished off the set in favor of the Red Flash at 26-24

THIRD SET RECAP

• The Grizzlies grabbed an early 4-2 lead off a pair of kills from Jessica Reidl
• The Red Flash drew even off attacks from Tyus and Adams
• Three-straight attack errors from the Red Flash handed Oakland an 8-5 lead
• The Red Flash couldn't get closer than three, forcing a time out with Oakland leading 14-9
• SFU couldn't stop the Oakland momentum as the lead would grow to as many as 11 at 22-11
• Oakland continued to force errors as a block on Pieper matched their largest lead of 11
• Lambert and Tyus each had kills to keep SFU alive in the third set but Oakland would close it out at 25-15 to take a 2-1 lead

FOURTH SET RECAP

• Oakland again grabbed an early lead, but a block and kill from Sophia Esposito (Coraopolis, PA/Montour (Gardner-Webb)) erased the lead and gave the Red Flash a 3-2 edge
• The teams would trade points until 7-7, where Oakland ran off three straight, forcing an SFU timeout
• A Tyus kill and combo block stopped the run and got the Red Flash back within one at 10-9
• Again, Oakland would stretch the lead out to three and again SFU battled back, Tyus and Lambert each had kills to make it 13-12 Grizzlies
• Another Lambert kill and a combo block from Pieper and Cecilia Esposito (Coraopolis, Pa./Montour) knotted the set at 16 and forced a timeout from Oakland
• The Grizzles again would go up two at 18-16, but the Red Flash battled back to tie it at 18 off a pair of Oakland attack errors
• Two Jamie Walling kills again put the Grizzlies up two, forcing an SFU timeout
• The lead would grow to three at 21-18 but two errors sandwiched an Emily Pieper (Paonia, Colo./Paonia) kill, knotting the set at 21, forcing an Oakland timeout
• The pattern continued with Oakland going up 23-21, but a service error, combo block, and Adams' kill put SFU up 24-23
• Oakland would see-saw back in front 25-24 off a block on a Tyus attack and an ace
• An Adams' kill fought off elimination, tying the set at 26
• The Grizzlies would repeat the set pattern, winning two-straight points, closing the set and the match out with an ace to make it 28-26

LOOKING AHEAD
The Red Flash will meet the host Red Hawks tonight at 6 p.m. to close out their non-conference. Miami bested Oakland in four sets last night to open the tournament.