Kent State University
10-8, 2-3MAC
Bowling Green State University
4-13, 1-4MAC
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kent State | 18 | 19 | 16 | 0 |
| Bowling Green | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
Golden Flashes Fall to Falcons, 3-0
10/10/2014 6:51:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Kent State lost to Bowling Green in straight sets (18-25, 19-25, 16-25) in a Mid-American Conference match Friday night at the Stroh Center. The Golden Flashes dropped to 10-8 overall and 2-3 in the MAC with the setback.
The offense struggled throughout the match, as Kent State finished with a .094 hitting percentage. Senior middle blocker Liz Reikow and senior setter Jenny Buczek were the only Flashes with more than one attack who hit better than .200. Reikow finished with six kills and hit .333, while Buczek had three kills and hit .600 to go with 25 assists. Senior outside hitter/opposite Lauren Engleman had a team-high eight kills for Kent State.
"We didn't perform well offensively," head coach Don Gromala said. "I think we passed similar to what how we've done in the past, but we just weren't putting balls away when we had scoring opportunities. When we were out of system, we weren't being aggressive enough and gave away points."
On the other side, Bowling Green was able to hit around the Kent State block and find open spots on the floor as it hit at a .287 clip. Jelena Sunjic and Kelsey Bates were the catalysts of the Falcons' attack and combined to hit .469 for the match. Sunjic had a match-high 15 kills and Bates added 12.
"Their right side and their slides killed us," said Gromala. "They threw a different lineup at us, which stressed us out, but we've defended right side attack well before. They hit smart. When they had chances to use our block, they did. When we tried to do that, we got blocked."
The first set, which featured five ties, proved to be the most competitive of the night. Trailing 18-15, Kent State tied the score on a kill by Reikow, a Bowling Green attack error and a block by Engleman and junior middle blocker Bridget Wilhelm. However, the Falcons were able to regroup during a timeout and score the next seven points to win the set.
Bowling Green kept its momentum going to jump out to 7-1 lead in the second set. The Flashes were able to cut the deficit to 12-10 but the Falcons scored five straight to lead 17-10. Kent State made one more push, as six players contributed to a 5-1 run that brought it to within 19-16. Bowling Green then scored four of the next five points to pull away and take a 2-0 lead.
Kent State took an early 5-2 lead after the intermission, but Bowling Green regained its momentum by scoring the next eight points. The Flashes were able to get as close three points at 11-8, but the Flacons scored five of the next six points to lead 16-9 and never looked back.
"We have to learn that we can't let runs from the other team rattle us," Gromala said. "That's what happened tonight. We were giving them five or six points at a time and we were only scoring two or three back. You just can't win like that."
Freshman defensive specialist/libero Challen Geraghty led all players with 17 digs. Six different Flashes contributed to the team's six blocks. Engleman, Reikow, Wilhelm and senior outside hitter Tinuke Aderemi-Ibitola had two blocks each.
Kent State will look to bounce right back with a 5 p.m. match at Miami Saturday evening.
"We need to have a whole different mentality going into the match tomorrow night. The team has to believe that they can get the job done and not allow a few points that don't go as planned knock us off our game."
