Kent State Drops Four-Setter to Bowling Green

Saturday, November 9

Bowling Green, Ohio

7:00 p.m.

Kent State University

12-15, 6-8MAC

Bowling Green State University

13-13, 9-5MAC

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Kent State	21	23	25	22	1
Bowling Green	25	25	19	25	3

Tinuke Aderemi-Ibitola

Photo by: Nick Cammett

Kent State Drops Four-Setter to Bowling Green

11/9/2013 9:39:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – Kent State saw its attempt at a comeback vanish Saturday night at the Stroh Center, falling to host Bowling Green, 3-1 (21-25, 23-25, 25-19, 22-25).

"We played OK tonight," head coach Don Gromala said. "I think the biggest issue is we allowed them to hit too high of a percentage. We're digging at just as high of a rate, but we've stopped getting points off digs. We're also not being able to knock balls down at the net for block-kills."

Kent State (12-15, 6-8) made the Falcons work to celebrate Senior Night with a victory. After falling behind 2-0, the Flashes ramped up their attack to take the third set. A slow start to the fourth, however, was too much to overcome and the Flashes dropped their fourth straight on the road.

In the third set, juniors Tinuke Aderemi-Ibitola and Lauren Engleman led the way at the pins. Aderemi-Ibitola made her first appearance of the bench and came through in a big way with five kills and Engleman added four.

"We got some strong play from our outside," added Gromal. "Tinuke and Lauren had some good, aggressive swings tonight. We need to find ways to score more points."

In each of the sets they lost, the Flashes were tied or within a point after the score reached the 20's, but came up short each time.

"The problem tonight wasn't the way we played during those critical moments," Gromala said. "We were making mistakes earlier in sets that put us in a position where we were playing from behind."

Senior Aleksandra Nowak recorded her eighth double-double of the season with 46 assists and 12 digs. Junior Liz Reikow had a team-high 13 kills and Engleman added 12 to reach double-figures for the fourth consecutive match. Aderemi-Ibitola posted 10 kills in just two sets of action.

Despite out-digging the Falcons, Kent State did not have one of its better defensive performances, allowing a .301 attack percentage. Senior Hannah Herc led the way with 19 digs to move into third on the Flashes' all-time list (1,245). Junior Kaylee Koller and sophomore Sarah Mills added 12 digs each.

Kent State (12-15, 6-8) entered the weekend with an opportunity to clinch a spot in the Mid-American Conference Tournament, but instead saw its road woes continue as it lost both matches.

The Flashes will head to Athens on Thursday for a rematch against Ohio, which will be televised on the Time Warner Cable SportsChannel at 7 p.m., before returning to the M.A.C. to host Eastern Michigan in the regular season finale on Saturday. Senior captains Aleksandra Nowak and Hannah Herc will be recognized following that match.