Volleyball to Host Golden Flashes Classic as Final Tune Up for MAC Play

2013 Golden Flashes Classic

KENT, Ohio - After three consecutive weekend road tournaments to open the season, the Kent State volleyball team will makes its regular season debut at the M.A.C. Center this weekend as it hosts the Golden Flashes Classic.

The Golden Flashes (3-6) welcome Binghamton, Eastern Illinois, and Illinois-Chicago for a six-match showcase of NCAA volleyball. Live stats and video will be available for all six matches.

Kent State opens with Binghamton on Friday at 7 p.m. The Golden Flashes will return to action at 12:30 p.m. Saturday against Eastern Illinois before meeting Illinois-Chicago in the finale at 7 p.m.

The Flashes did compete at the M.A.C. Center once previously this season, falling in three sets to Polish professional team Dabrowa Górnicza in an exhibition contest back on Sept. 2. A new student attendance record was set that night, and head coach Don Gromala hopes that type of support continues throughout the season.

"I was really pleased and excited about the student crowd tonight," Gromala said. "If we can have that for all of our MAC matches, we're going to do some special things [this season]."

Weekend Recap
Kent State is coming off its most successful weekend of the season after a 2-1 performance at the Thunder Invitational. The Flashes mounted a comeback in its first match to defeat Eastern Kentucky, 3-2, and then took care of Southern Illinois in three sets Saturday morning. Marshall proved not to be a kind host, preventing the Flashes from their first unbeaten weekend of the season in a five set win.

Senior libero Hannah Herc and sophomore opposite Kelly Hutchison were named to the all-tournament team for their outstanding play at the tournament. Herc had a career-high 31 digs against Eastern Kentucky and finished the weekend with 5.38 digs/set. Hutchison led the team with a .299 hitting percentage and 3.46 kills/set.

Book Drive
In an effort to support child literacy, the Flashes are teaming with Reach Out and Read^® to hold a book drive at this weekend's tournament. Fans can contribute to the cause by bringing new children's books to the M.A.C. Center, where donation boxes will be located at the admissions table.

Golden Flashes Classic Schedule
Friday, Sept. 9
5:00 p.m. - Illinois-Chicago vs. Eastern Illinois
7:00 p.m. - Kent State vs. Binghamton

Saturday, Sept. 10
10:00 a.m. - Binghamton vs. Illinois-Chicago
12:30 p.m. - Kent State vs. Eastern Illinois
4:30 p.m. - Eastern Illinois vs. Binghamton
7:00 p.m. - Kent State vs. Illinois-Chicago

Flash Facts

Herc is 49 digs from the 1,000th of her career. The two-year team captain will be the ninth Kent State player to reach the milestone. Herc enters the weekend with a 4.09 digs/set average, which ranks 10th in the MAC.
Senior Aleksandra Nowak took sole possession of fourth on Kent State's career assists list in Friday's win over Eastern Kentucky. Nowak, who entered the weekend tied with Katie Veatch, tallied 48 assists in the match and now has 2,567 for her career. On the season, she is sixth in the MAC with 8.66 assists/set.
Hutchison and freshman outside hitter Bianca Cifaldi have accounted for nearly half of Kent State's kills this year. Cifaldi has a team-high 102 kills on the season. She posted a career-high 18 against Marshall to extend her streak of consecutive matches in double-figures to five. Hutchison is just behind with 98 kills on the season and has a team-best 114 points.
Kent State has out-dug its opponent in four straight matches, averaging 16.89 digs/set over that span. Four players have posted 2.00 digs/per set or better in those matches—Herc (4.67), Kaylee Koller (3.05), Hutchison (2.72) and Sarah Mills (2.33).

Scouting This Week's Opponents

Binghamton (2-8)

This will be just the second meeting all-time between Kent State and Binghamton, which began Division I completion in 2001. The Bearcats came away with a 3-2 victory at the KSU Golden Flash Invitational in 2007.
Binghamton travels to Kent with back-to-back wins after winning at Columbia on Saturday, 3-2, and defeating Siena in three sets on Tuesday. The Bearcats opened the season with eight straight losses and won just five sets along the way.
As a team, the Bearcats ranks 262nd or worse (out of 334) in hitting percentage, kills/set, assists/set, digs/set and blocks/set.
Senior defensive specialist/libero Xiomara Ortiz became the school's career leader in digs on Tuesday with 1,609 during her three-pus collegiate seasons. Ortiz leads the team with 4.14 digs/set on the season.
Senior middle hitter Grace Vickers paces Binghamton at 2.62 kills/set.

Eastern Illinois (4-6)

Kent State is 1-5 all-time against Eastern Illinois. The Flashes dropped the 2009 season opener to the Panthers, 3-1, in the most recent matchup at the IPFW Invitational.
EIU went 1-2 at the UMKC Kangaroo Klassic this past weekend, falling to Wake Forest and host UMKC before beating Presbyterian in straight sets.
Senior middle hitter Reynae Hutchinson was named to the all-tournament team over the weekend after totaling 32 kills and 34 digs.
Sophomore outside hitter/middle blocker Chelsea Lee leads the attack for the Panthers with 3.51 kills/set on the season.

Illinois-Chicago (4-7)

Kent State is 1-2 all-time against Illinois-Chicago. The Golden Flashes fell to the Flames in five sets in the last matchup back in 1990 in DeKalb, Ill.
UIC has won just once in its last five matches coming off a 1-3 performance last weekend at the Hawkeye Challenge. The Flames have won just one set in those four losses.
The Flames possess a balanced attack as three players have posted 100+ kills on the season. Freshman outside hitter Kara Johnson leads the way with 135 (3.21/set) and has recorded double-digit kills in seven matches so far this season.
Junior middle hitter Sarah Sternard was named to the al-tournament team over the weekend after posting 27 kills and eight total blocks in four matches.
Senior setter MaryKate Imrie leads the Horizon League with 10.04 assists/set.
The Flames are hitting .164, which is last in the Horizon League.

Next Up
Kent State begins Mid-American Conference play with a pair of road matches next weekend. The Golden Flashes play at rival Akron on Friday (Sept. 27), which kicks off the PNC Wagon Wheel Challenge, and then travels to Buffalo on Saturday (Sept. 28).

For live updates, follow the Flashes on Twitter @KentStVball. Live stats will be available on http://www.kentstatesports.com and a live web stream will be provided through http://www.mac-sports.com for all of this weekend's matches.

Kent State University Athletics

Volleyball to Host Golden Flashes Classic as Final Tune Up for MAC Play

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