Bittinger Tabbed MAC East Co-Offensive Player of the Week
10/24/2016 5:31:00โฏPM | Women's Volleyball
CLEVELAND, Ohio โ Junior outside hitter Kelsey Bittinger has been named Mid-American Conference East Division Co-Offensive Player of the Week, sharing the honor with Ohio's Mallory Salis.
This is the second Offensive Player of the Week honor for Bittinger, who posted 45.5 points (4.55 points/set), 42 kills (4.20 kills/set), 41 digs (4.10 digs/set), 2 blocks and 2 aces to lead Kent State in a split of two five-setters over the weekend. Her 42 kills came on 106 swings with only 9 errors for a .311 hitting percentage.
In Friday's 3-2 win over Western Michigan, she led the Golden Flashes with 18 kills and added a career-high 30 digs on defense. Bittinger finished off the third set with a kill to give Kent State a 2-1 lead and then delivered several big swings in the decisive fifth set with 4 kills on 6 errorless attempts, including the match clincher.
Against an NIU defense that entered the weekend leading the MAC in blocks per set and opponent hitting percentage, Bittinger matched her career-high with 27.5 points and posted a season-best 24 kills while hitting at a .351 clip, which is the highest hitting percentage vs. the Huskies by a MAC opponent with at least 20 attempts this season. She led Kent State to an opening-set victory with 9 kills on 16 attempts without any errors and added 8 kills with just 1 error on 12 attempts in the fourth set to extend the match. Bittinger accounted for nearly half of her team's points in the fifth with 4 kills on 9 errorless swings and a block solo.
On the season, Bittinger leads the Flashes in points (3.91/set), kills (3.46/set) and double-doubles (9) and is second on the team in digs (2.98).
Kent State returns to action this weekend with road matches against rival Akron and Buffalo.ย
