Kent State University
11-10 (3-5MAC)
Ball State University
12-9 (6-2MAC)
Golden Flashes Suffer 3-0 Setback at Ball State
10/18/2014 9:39:00โฏPM | Women's Volleyball
MUNCIE, Ind. โ Kent State was unable to put together back-to-back road victories, falling to Ball State, 3-0 (13-25, 18-25, 23-25), Saturday evening. The Golden Flashes are now 11-10 overall and 3-5 in the Mid-American Conference.
"We came out and didn't play with the intensity on the defensive end that we needed," head coach Don Gromala said. "It was déjà vu to last weekend with teams hitting close to .400 against us. I thought our floor defense was alright but we didn't do a good job of being disciplined in our block and they were scoring. Ball State is a good team. When you're playing on the road, you can't fall in a hole that big."
Kent State struggled on offense and finished with just 32 kills for the third time in the last four matches. While the Flashes were able make some adjustments throughout the match, they ended with just a .110 hitting percentage. Ball State posted 48 kills and hit .358 for the match.
Senior middle blocker Liz Reikow had another strong offensive performance, providing a bright spot for the Flashes. Reikow recorded 11 kills on 24 attempts without committing an error for a .458 hitting percentage.
"Ball State is a pretty physical team and Liz matches up well with them," Gromala said. "She made good hitting decisions and tried different things to find ways to score. That's an area where she has really grown a lot this season."
Senior outside hitter Tinuke Aderemi-Ibitola and senior outside hitter/opposite Lauren Engleman added six kills and five kills, respectively, for the Flashes. Freshman setter Brittney Jakscht totaled 33 assists.
Defensively, Kent State was led by freshman libero Challen Geraghty, who had 15 digs for her ninth straight match in double-digits. Senior defensive specialist Kaylee Koller had eight digs and freshman outside hitter Kelsey Bittinger added seven digs. Junior middle blocker Bridget Wilhelm and junior opposite Kelly Hutchison totaled three blocks each.
After losing the first two sets, Kent State put up a fight in the third. The set featured 10 ties and four lead changes, surpassing the totals of the first two sets combined. Ball State appeared to pull away when it took a 20-15 lead, but Kent State had one last comeback attempt left. Reikow started the rally with a kill, which was followed by a Cardinals attack error. Wilhelm teamed with Engleman and then Jakscht for blocks on consecutive plays before tying the set at 20-20 with a kill. Ball State was able to regroup following its second timeout and scored the next two points, but the Flashes came right back to tie it at 22-22. However, the Cardinals were able to score three of the next four points to claim victory.
"In the third set, we had opportunities and let it kind of slip away," said Gromala. "We mixed up our serving to get them out of their approach patterns with some short serves and that stressed them out, but wasn't enough."
Kent State returns to the M.A.C. Center, where it is 6-0 this season, for six of its final eight regular contests. The Flashes will host Northern Illinois on Friday (Oct. 24) and Western Michigan on Saturday (Oct. 25).
