Kent State University
5-6
Eastern Illinois University
5-7
Career Matches from Cifaldi and Wilhelm Help Kent State Defend Home Court
9/21/2013 3:00:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
KENT, Ohio – Freshman Bianca Cifaldi and sophomore Bridget Wilhelm posted career-high totals in kills as Kent State topped Eastern Illinois, 3-1 (20-25, 25-23, 25-19, 25-17), in Saturday's afternoon match at the Golden Flashes Classic. The win marks the second consecutive weekend that the Golden Flashes have won their first two matches.
"I'm very excited about our performance today," head coach Don Gromala said. "We started off a little slow but recovered really well and played some great volleyball. It was a really good win, a good comeback, and I liked how our girls fought back."
Kent State (5-6) used a balance attack to earn the four-set victory. Cifaldi led the way with a match-high 18 kills, including five or more in each of the final three sets. Wilhelm totaled 16 kills on just 20 attempts and had a .700 hitting percentage. Sophomore Kelly Hutchison added 10 kills, while junior Lauren Engleman came off the bench to post six kills in the final two sets.
"We had some players come in and be a big part of the win, which was good to see," said Gromala. "I think that's the key to us being successful, winning as a team and distributing the offense."
Senior Aleksandra Nowak turned in another terrific performance with a season-best 49 assists to go with nine digs. Senior Hannah Herc tallied a match-high 22 digs, while junior Kaylee Koller and sophomore Sarah Mills were also in double-figures with 12 and 10, respectively.
Kent State opened with a 3-1 lead in the first set, only to see Eastern Illinois take 9 of the next 10 points. The Panthers then controlled the rest of the set, leading by as many as seven points.
"It was a little different game plan than we had last night, so it took awhile to adjust", Gromala said of his team dropping the opening set. "Eastern Illinois is more physical than Binghamton. We made the adjustments at the net and became more disciplined. That's why our offense picked up in sets 2-4."
The second set featured six ties, but the Golden Flashes never trailed. After Eastern Illinois scored consecutive points to tie it at 22-22, Gromala called timeout to regroup his squad. A ballhandling error by the Panthers' setter put the Flashes back ahead, but they followed with a kill to even the score. For a moment, it appeared that the Flashes would be a point away from a 2-0 deficit, but it was ruled that the Eastern Illinois defender went over the net on a block attempt, awarding the point to Kent State. Cifaldi then put the exclamation point on the set with a kill on the next point.
"We've talked a lot as a program about those close sets and coming out on top," Gromala said. "Those moments make us better as a team and give us confidence. Coming out on top was huge for the team and we carried over the momentum into three and four."
With the scored tied 8-8 in the third, Wilhelm posted three kills to fuel a 5-0 Kent State run to gain control of the set. The Flashes led by as many as seven points and cruised to a 2-1 lead.
The fourth set also turned in the Flashes' favor at 8-8, but this time is was a more gradual 11-3 run that was the difference.
Kent State concludes the 2013 Golden Flashes Classic against Illinois-Chicago in a 7 p.m. matchup this evening at the M.A.C. Center.
