Kent State Volleyball Falls in Straight Sets to Northern Illinois

Saturday, October 26

DeKalb, Ill.

8:00 p.m.

Kent State University

10-13 (4-6MAC)

Northern Illinois University

13-11 (5-5MAC)

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Kent State	12	13	18	0
Northern Illinois	25	25	25	3

Jenny Buczek

Photo by: David Dermer

Kent State Volleyball Falls in Straight Sets to Northern Illinois

10/26/2013 10:39:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

DEKALB, Ill. –Kent State volleyball head coach Don Gromala made some changes to his lineup, but the outcome stayed the same as the Golden Flashes lost to Northern Illinois in straight sets (12-25, 13-25, 18-25) Saturday evening.

"We went with a bit of a different look at times tonight," Gromala said. "When people came in, they did a good job of stepping up and contributing to the team. The next step is for them to be able to maintain that level of play to be able to perform consistently."

Looking to build on solid performances late in Friday's match, juniors Lauren Engleman and Jenny Buczek were inserted into the starting lineup. Engleman continued to swing a hot hand early with six kills in the opening set and finished with a team-best nine on the night.

"Lauren did some really nice things for us in spurts tonight, especially on offense," said Gromala. "We weren't hitting the ball well and she had some really nice swings."

Making her first start of the season, Buczek recorded 22 assists to pace the Flashes. She also added four digs.

"I thought Jenny did a great job when we went to her last night and figured to give her a look tonight," Gromala said. "She located and delivered the ball to our hitters well, but it can be difficult for them when you have a new setter out there."

Senior Hannah Herc led the defense with seven digs and sophomore Alexis Rains added six. Freshman Madeline Moxley had three digs in the final set.

The Flashes continued its hitting woes, however, with a .068 attack percentage for the match. The Flashes had 23 attack errors compared to just six for the Huskies.

Kent State (10-13, 4-6) comes back to the M.A.C. Center next weekend as it begins the second time through play against MAC East schools. The Golden Flashes will host Buffalo on Friday and then Akron on Saturday for 7 p.m. contests. The Flashes will look to take the season series and a full point in the PNC Wagon Wheel Challenge with a victory over the Zips.