Volleyball Picked Third, Bittinger and Geraghty Claim Preseason All-MAC Honors
8/22/2017 10:07:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Kent State volleyball team is slotted to finish third in the Mid-American Conference East Division according to the conference's preseason coaches' poll, which was released Tuesday morning. Outside hitter Kelsey Bittinger and libero Challen Geraghty were selected to the Preseason All-MAC East Team, as the Golden Flashes are one of four programs with two players to be recognized by the league's 12 head coaches.
Entering his sixth season at the helm, head coach Don Gromala has guided the Flashes to a spot in the final conference standings higher than their projected finish in three of the past four seasons.
Bittinger and Geraghty are the only two-time All-MAC First Team honorees in Kent State history and are joined by middle blocker Amber Gerdeman, setter Brittney Jakscht and opposite Heather Younkin in a strong senior class that has been instrumental in the Flashes moving into the top half of the conference.
Bittinger is the active MAC leader in kills and one of only seven active NCAA Division I players with at least 1,000 career kills (1,107) and digs (1,015). She is the conference's returning leader in kills per set (3.55) from last season when she also led all non-liberos in digs per set (3.19). Bittinger also excels in the classroom and was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America® Third Team in 2016.
Geraghty has scrapped her way to 1,880 digs over the past three years and enters her senior campaign as the NCAA Division I active leader. The 2015 MAC Defensive Player of the Year averaged 5.53 digs per set a season ago to rank fourth in the country after ranking sixth in 2015.
Kent State totaled 49 points with one second-place vote and 11 third-place votes. Miami was voted as the favorite to repeat as MAC East champions with 11 first-place votes and 71 points. Perennial conference power Ohio is slated to finish second. The Bobcats, which had their streak of 13 straight seasons claiming at least a share of the East Division crown snapped in 2016, received the remaining first-place vote and totaled 55 points.
Ball State was selected as the favorite to win the MAC West with four first-place votes and 61 points. Northern Illinois (3), Western Michigan (3) and Toledo (2) all received multiple first-place votes, as just 15 points separate the top four teams.
Miami, which went 15-1 in conference play to earn a share of the MAC regular season title last season, is the favorite to win it again with 10 votes. Ball State and Western Michigan also garnered a vote to take the regular season crown and right to host the 2018 MAC Volleyball Championship.
Kent State received one vote to win the 2017 MAC Volleyball Championship and receive the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, trailing only host Miami (8 votes).
The Flashes return 13 letterwinners and four starters from last season and feature one of its most veteran rosters over the past decade with nine student-athletes entering their third or fourth season in the program. More than 80-percent of the team's kills and digs from a year ago are accounted for on the current roster.
Kent State opens the regular season this weekend at the Cyclone Invitational (Aug. 25-26). The home opener at the M.A.C. Center is slated for Friday, Sept. 8, as the Flashes host Butler in the Golden Flashes Classic. The home tournament concludes against College of Charleston on Sunday, Sept. 10.
The 2017 MAC Volleyball Championship will be held Nov. 16-19 with the top eight teams in the conference competing for a postseason bid at Millett Hall in Oxford, Ohio.
Be sure to follow Kent State Volleyball on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for news and updates about the squad.
2017 MAC Volleyball Preseason Coaches' Poll
MAC East Division
1. Miami (11 first place votes) - 71
2. Ohio (1) - 58
3. Kent State - 49
4. Buffalo - 31
5. Bowling Green - 29
6. Akron - 14
MAC West Division
1. Ball State (4) - 61
2. Northern Illinois (3) - 57
3. Western Michigan (3) - 50
4. Toledo (2) - 46
5. Central Michigan - 26
6. Eastern Michigan - 12
MAC Regular Season Champion: Miami (10), Ball State (1), Western Michigan (1)
MAC Tournament Champion: Miami (8), Ball State (1), Kent State (1), Ohio (1), Western Michigan (1)
2017 Preseason All-MAC East
Cassie Shado, Buffalo
Kelsey Bittinger, Kent State
Challen Geraghty, Kent State
Maeve McDonald, Miami
Katie Tomasic, Miami
Jaime Kosiorek, Ohio
Ali Lake, Ohio
2017 Preseason All-MAC West
Brooklyn Goodsel, Ball State
Jordan Bueter, Central Michigan
Meg Wolowicz, Northern Illinois
Maurissa Leonard, Toledo
Rachel Vidourek, Toledo
Sydney LeMay, Western Michigan
