Kent State University
15-13, 7-8MAC
Miami University (OH)
19-8, 12-3MAC
Team Stats
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
Kent State Comeback Falls Short in Setback to Miami
11/14/2014 10:39:00โฏPM | Women's Volleyball
KENT, Ohio โ Kent State ran out of comeback opportunities in falling to Miami, 3-2 (23-25, 26-24, 16-25, 27-25, 11-15), Friday night at the M.A.C. Center.
"I thought we played OK tonight," head coach Don Gromala said. "We played our best when we were behind, and you have to play well at the start to beat a good team. Our team did a great job of finding ways to score points and comeback, but we need to come out with a little more fire and grit going forward."
After extending the contest to a fifth set, Kent State (15-13, 7-8 MAC) got off to its best start of the night when senior Liz Reikow recorded stuffs on the first two points. Miami countered with three straight points to take the lead, which it extended to 7-4. Junior Kelly Hutchison stepped up with a kill and solo block, which was followed by a Miami attack error. Freshman Kelsey Bittinger put momentum, and the lead, back in the Flashes' favor with a kill to go ahead 8-7. After trading the next two points, Miami scored three straight to lead 11-9. Another kill by Bittinger cut Kent State's deficit to 12-11, prompting the RedHawks to call timeout. Miami was finally able to put the Flashes away with kills on the next three sets.
"That fifth set really came down to making plays. Miami made them and we didn't," said Gromala. "When we had opportunities to score one-on-one, we weren't able to. We didn't pass as well as we needed to, they aced us a couple of times and we had a handful of hitting errors. That is going to cost you in a set to 15 points."
Freshman Brittney Jakscht recorded 57 assists, her highest total of the conference season. Jakscht was able to find success setting to several teammates, as the Flashes had five players with double-digit kills for the first time this season. Senior Tinuke Aderemi-Ibitola led all players with 18 kills while hitting at a .318 clip. Bittinger posted 13 kills to go with 18 digs for her third consecutive double-double. Junior Bridget Wilhelm had 11 kills and Hutchison and Reikow added 10 kills apiece.
Freshman Challen Geraghty tallied a team-high 22 digs to help Kent State outdig Miami, 87-78. Junior Sarah Mills set a new career mark with 20 digs. Senior Kaylee Koller and Jakscht each had 10 digs.
The MAC's top blocking team entering the night, Kent State managed just seven blocks on the night. The Flashes also had difficulties with their serve-receive, as the RedHawks finished with 12 aces.
Kent State closes out the regular season with a 7 p.m. contest against Bowling Green at the M.A.C. Center on Saturday. Following the match, the Flashes will recognize this year's seniorsโTinuke Aderemi-Ibitola, Jenny Buczek, Lauren Engleman, Kaylee Koller and Liz Reikow.ย
