Golden Flashes Hit the Road, Look to Keep Pace in MAC Standings

Friday, October 25

Kalamazoo, Mich.

7:00 p.m.

Kent State University

Western Michigan University

Bianca CIfaldi

Photo by: David Dermer

Golden Flashes Hit the Road, Look to Keep Pace in MAC Standings

10/24/2013 10:06:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

KENT, Ohio – Kent State volleyball head coach Don Gromala hopes his youthful team has short memories, as the Golden Flashes (10-11, 4-4) aim to bounce back from a pair of home losses last weekend. The Flashes will be back on the road for cross-divisional matchups with Western Michigan on Friday and Northern Illinois on Saturday.

Entering last weekend, the Flashes were just a game out of first place in the Mid-American Conference East Division. After splitting the first two sets against Ball State and Toledo, the Flashes hit a wall late in the third set in both matches for a pair of 3-1 losses. Kent State struggled put balls away in 1-on-1 situations and hurt itself with too many hitting errors.

While the pins had a rough weekend for Kent State, middle blockers Liz Reikow and Bridget Wilhelm did a terrific job of putting balls away. Reikow led the way with 25 kills and a .423 attack percentage to earn MAC East Offensive Player of the Week honors. Wilhelm wasn't far behind, totaling 24 kills and a .300 attack percentage while also adding three aces.

The Flashes will need the duo to have more of a defensive presence at the net this weekend, however, to take some of the stress off its back row. Kent State split with these schools last year, and blocking played a large role in a four-set victory over the Huskies. The Flashes totaled a season-best 16 blocks in the match and Reikow had five.

Western Michigan defeated Akron and Buffalo last weekend without dropping a set, while Northern Illinois fell to the Bulls before snapping a five-match skid with a 3-1 victory over the Zips, who are winless in conference play.

Flash Facts

Kent State is 2-1 on the road during conference play, and looks to continue that success this weekend.
Junior MB Liz Reikow is developing into a dominant force at the net for the Flashes. Over the past 10 matches, Reikow is posting 2.74 kills/set and 0.79 blocks/set, while hitting .345 and posting double-figure kills 7 times. She ranks 5th in the MAC in hitting in conference play (.328) and 10th overall (.308).
Senior S Aleksandra Nowak has played some of the best volleyball of her career in conference matches this season. Nowak is averaging 10.97 assists/set in conference play, which is 3rd in the MAC, and a career-best 10.06 assists/set on the year. Last weekend, she became just the 4th Kent State player to surpass 3,000 career assists.
Senior DS/L Hannah Herc is in the midst of one of the best season by a back row player in Kent State history and has anchored an improved defense. Herc is 5th in the MAC with 5.16 digs/set in conference play and needs just 27 to crack Kent State's top 10 single-season digs list..
OPP Kelly Hutchison has had the opposite of a sophomore slump and shown tremendous improvement from her in-conference play a year ago. Hutchison is averaging 3.07 kills/set and hitting .230 in MAC matches this season, which is nearly triple last year's output in both categories.

Scouting This Week's Opponents
Western Michigan (12-9, 5-3)

This will be the 47th all-time meeting between the schools, with Western Michigan leading the series 35-11.
Western Michigan has one of the top offenses in the conference and its .248 attack percentage is 2nd-best in the MAC. In conference matches, the Broncos are averaging 14.39 kills/set, which is 2nd in the MAC.
Two Bronco players, redshirt freshman MB Ave Stout and sophomore MB Stephanee Yancy, rank among the conference's top 10 in hitting. Stout has a MAC-best .415 attack percentage in conference play, while Yancy is 4th in the MAC with 3.57 kills/set on the season.
Redshirt senior OH Rachel Sheffer has posted 2.88 kills/set in MAC play and double-figure kills in 7 of the last 8 matches.
Junior S Lexie Pawlik is a big reason for Western Michigan's offensive success and leads the MAC with 11.44 assists/set on the season.
Senior L Lena Oliver is the NCAA's active leader with 2,317 career digs, which ranks 2nd in MAC history. Oliver is 4th in the conference this season with a 4.74 digs/set average.
An area the Broncos have not been effective with this season has been serving, ranking last in the MAC in aces/set (0.78).

Northern Illinois (12-10, 4-4)

This will be the 43rd all-time meeting between the schools, with Northern Illinois leading the series 25-7.
Northern Illinois is 9-4 in home matches this season and has won five straight at Victor E. Court.
The Huskies feature one of the MAC's top hitters in OH Mackenzie Roddy. The junior averages 3.40 kills/set to rank 6th in the conference.
Freshman OH Mary Grace Kelly has come on during conference play and averages 2.85 kills/set against MAC foes.
Sophomore S Alexis Gonzalez has done a nice job of setting up her teams this season and is also 6th in the conference with 8.81 assists/set.
Senior L Justine Schepler leads the back row on defense with 4.27 digs/set, which ranks 10th in the MAC.

Next Up
Kent State returns to the M.A.C. Center for a pair of crucial matches as it begins the second time through the East Division. The Flashes will seek to return the favor for an earlier loss against Buffalo on Friday and then attempt to finish the season sweep against rival Akron on Saturday in a matchup as part of the PNC Wagon Wheel Challenge.