Gromala Announces 2018 Volleyball Schedule
5/23/2018 2:41:00โฏPM | Women's Volleyball
KENT, Ohio โ Kent State volleyball head coachย Don Gromalaย has announced the team's 2018 schedule, which includes 30 regular season matches along with an exhibition contest and the Mid-American Conference Volleyball Championship to be held Nov. 15-18.
In addition to competing at tournaments hosted by North Texas, La Salle and Butler, the Golden Flashes will play two mid-week matches during the non-conference portion of the season prior to the 16-match MAC schedule beginning on Sept. 20.
"We really feel like we put together the appropriate non-conference schedule for this year's team that will have a lot of new faces," Gromala said. "The returning players have set up a solid foundation of expectations for next season, and with the addition of talented freshmen and transfers we need to get comfortable playing with each other as soon as possible by playing a lot of matches versus a wider spectrum of conferences than we have in the past."
Kent State will prepare for the start of the regular season with the annual Blue and Gold Scrimmage on Tuesday, Aug. 14 and then heading to Division II Findlay for an exhibition match on Friday, Aug. 17.
The Flashes will open the season by traveling to the "Lone Star State" for the first time in program history for three matches at the North Texas Invitational. Kent State will play Grambling State and Nicholls on Friday, Aug. 24 and then the host Mean Green on Saturday, Aug. 25. Last season, North Texas advanced to the second round of the National Invitational Volleyball Championship after claiming the program's first-ever regular season C-USA title.
Youngstown State visits the M.A.C. Center on Tuesday, Aug. 28 to start the 12-match home schedule, the Flashes' largest since the 2014 season. The homestand continues that weekend with the Golden Flashes Classic. Kent State will seek to defeat Fort Wayne for the second straight year in a matchup with the Mastodons on Friday, Aug. 31. The Flashes will then battle Morgan State and Niagara on Saturday, Sept. 1.
Kent State begins a stretch of nine straight games on the road at Robert Morris on Tuesday, Sept. 4. Senior defensive specialist Sam Jones will have an opportunity to play in front of family and friends with a trip to Philadelphia for the La Salle Invitational on Sept. 7-8. The tournament field includes the host Explorers, Rider and NJIT.
Gromala will take the Flashes to Butler for the second time during his seven-year tenure for matches inside of historic Hinkle Fieldhouse on Sept. 14-15. The host Bulldogs, Cleveland State and Santa Clara all finished the 2017 season inside of the Top-100 of the RPI. Butler is coming off of a 23-8 campaign and has an identical 23-8 record at home over the past two seasons, while Cleveland State played in the NCAA Tournament last season.
"We will be challenging ourselves by playing a lot of volleyball in the first few weeks, but we know that will get us ready for the grueling MAC slate and time on the road to start the season."
Kent Stateย will go on the road for three of the first four weekends of the conference season, which begins at Ohio on Thursday, Sept. 20. After traveling to Eastern Michigan on Saturday, Sept. 22, the Flashes will host Akron on Friday, Sept. 28 and Buffalo on Saturday, Sept. 29 before heading back on the road the following two weekends.
Cross-divisional contests against Northern Illinois on Friday, Oct. 19 and Western Michigan on Saturday, Oct. 20 mark a stretch of six of eight home matches to end the regular season.
Senior Night will be on Saturday, Nov. 10 when the Flashes host Bowling Green.
The 2018 MAC Volleyball Championship will be held Nov. 15-18 at Millett Hall on the campus of Miami University.
Be sure to follow the Kent State volleyball team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for news and updates about the team.
