BOX SCORE 1 | BOX SCORE 2 Loretto, Pa. - The Saint Francis women's volleyball team dropped three-set losse to UMBC (19-25, 19-25, 22-25) and Delaware (11-25, 15-25 on Friday on day one of the UMBC Retrievers  Invitational.

Saint Francis played host-UMBC tight in all three sets during the morning action behind 15 total kills from sophomore Madi Tyus (Plano, TX/Bishop Lynch).

The Red Flash got off to a quick start behind the swings of Tyus and senior Cecilia Esposito (Coraopolis, Pa./Montour) as Tyus's second kill of the match gave Saint Francis an early 6-2 lead.

It was short-lived as UMBC recorded six of the next seven points to take the lead for good.

Tyus got Saint Francis off to another good start in set two, staking the Red Flash to a 10-8 lead with a spike. Another Tyus spike put Saint Francis ahead 14-13 before the retrievers rattled off four straight. An ace by Logan Belford (Loveland, Colo./Loveland) pulled Saint Francis within one but UMBC closed the set with the final five points for its seceond 25-22 win.

Set three was the closest of the day. Belford's second service ace of the match put Saint Francis in front 7-6 and the lead was bumped to 12-10 after an ace from redshirt freshman Alexa Mamone (Beaver, PA/Beaver Area). UMBC responded with a pivotal 5-0 run to regain control of the set. Facing match point at 24-20, Saint Francis won two straight points, the first of an attack error and the second via a Tyus kill before the match ended on a kill by UMBC's Kamani Conteh.

Tyus led the Red Flash with 15 kills while sophomores Nicole Adams (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa East) and Keara McGraw (Austin, TX/James Bowie) chipped in with four. Belford had a solid overall match with a team-high 10 digs, three assists and two aces while sophomore setter Kimmy Sweeney (Broadview Heights, OH/Beaumont School) recorded 20 assists and an ace.

Saint Francis finished the game with a .126 hitting pct. while UMBC hit .244. The Retrievers size at the net bothered SFU with the block totals ending 14-2 in UMBC's favor.

Game two wasn't as close as Delaware took all three sets by double digits. Tyus led SFU with 7 kills, 8 digs and two blocks while Adams added five kills.SFU hit just .025% as a team to Delaware's .304%.

The Red Flash conclude play tomorrow vs. George Mason at 11 a.m.