BOX SCORE New Britain, Conn. - The Saint Francis women's volleyball team (2-18, 2-6 NEC) battled back from a first set deficit to grab a 1-0 lead before the Central Connecticut State Blue Devils (8-12, 4-4 NEC) took the next three sets for a 3-1 win (25-22, 18-25, 17-25, 

Saint Francis trailed the opening set 17-12 before mounting a furious rally. Sophomore Nicole Adams (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa East) capped a 5-0 spurt with a kill to even the set at 17-17. Trailing 21-19, SFU once again clawed back in it with a 3-0 run. The set was knotted at 22-22 before an Adams kill and two CCSU errors closed things out.

Saint Francis was close in the early goings of the second and third sets before big runs in the middle of the frames put Saint Francis behind the eight-ball.

The Red Flash tried to muster one last rally in the fourth set, getting as close as 14-10, but CCSU notched the next four points to ice the match.

SFU came out firing and hit .257% in the first set but was held under 0.80% in each of the next three sets.

Sophomore Madi Tyus (Plano, TX/Bishop Lynch) nearly added her second 20/20 game in as many weeks with 19 kills and 23 digs. Sophomore Keara McGraw (Austin, TX/James Bowie) added 10 kills and nine digs and Adams finished with 10 kills, 12 digs and six blocks. Senior Cecilia Esposito (Coraopolis, Pa./Montour) tied Adams for high-block honors with six while junior Logan Belford (Loveland, Colo./Loveland) recorded 17 digs.

SFU is back on the road next Friday, Oct. 25, at Merrimack at 6 p.m.