Kent State University
4-6
Binghamton University
2-9
Golden Flashes Sweep Bearcats in Home Opener
9/20/2013 9:16:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
2013 Golden Flashes Classic
KENT, Ohio –The Kent State volleyball team put together one of its most complete performances of the season in front of the home crowd in defeating Binghamton in straight sets (25,22, 25-15, 25-19) Friday night. The match, which was the first team's first at the M.A.C. Center this season, was part of the opening day of the Golden Flashes Classic.
"I think it was good match for us on both sides of the ball tonight," said head coach Don Gromala. "We talked about picking it up on the defensive end after that first set and we definitely did that. I think we did a great job of serving. We were hitting our zones and serving tough balls that made it harder for them to run their offense, which made it easier for us defensively."
Senior Aleksandra Nowak orchestrated the Kent State offense with a match-high 37 assists. Sophomore Kelly Hutchison led the attack with a match-high 12 kills, extending her streak of double-digit kills to five. Freshman Bianca Cifaldi also had a strong performance with 10 kills to extend her streak to six matches. Defensively, the Flashes were led by 17 digs from senior Hannah Herc.
Gromala credited much of the success of the team's offense to the play of his middles, junior Liz Reikow and sophomore Bridget Wilhelm.
"Our middles were hot to start the match and that always opens things up."
Reikow posted seven kills and a .500 hitting percentage, while Wilhelm hit .364 and had six kills. The duo also combined for eight total blocks on the night.
Kent State (4-6) traded points with Binghamton early, as the opening set featured six ties and one lead change. The Golden Flashes then used a 6-1 run to take control and a 17-11 advantage. They pushed the lead to as many as nine at 22-13, but the Bearcats made one final push. Following a 9-2 run of their own, Hutchison slammed the door shut with a powerful swing that the defense had no chance of stopping.
The Flashes won the first five points of the next set and never looked back. After going ahead 20-10, Binghamton took five of the next eight points before Kent State put them away by a score of 25-15.
"We played great until about 20 points in each set and then fell off a little bit," Gromala said. "We definitely want to focus on playing more complete sets tomorrow."
Binghamton went up 1-0 in the third set, but its lead would be brief. Four kills from Hutchison, with a service from by Herc thrown in, gave Kent State a 5-1 advantage. The Bearcats took the next two points to make it 5-3, but failed to get closer than four points the rest of the way.
Kent State will conclude the 2013 Golden Flashes Classic with two matches at the M.A.C. Center on Saturday. The Flashes will play Eastern Illinois at 12:30 p.m. and then take on Illinois-Chicago in a 7 p.m. matchup. Eastern Illinois defeated Illinois-Chicago, 3-0, in tonight's first match.
