Kent State University
0-1
Mercer University
1-0
Volleyball Falls to Mercer in Season Opener
8/29/2014 9:44:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Kent State volleyball team took the first set before dropping three straight to fall to Mercer in its season opener, 3-1 (25-22, 23-25, 20-25, 24-26), Friday afternoon at the CofC Invitational.
"I feel that overall we played better than the score indicates," head coach Don Gromala said. "Our girls did a nice job of executing our block and I thought our freshmen were very steady and didn't back down. But we were out-dug and had 12 serving errors, and that was really the difference."
Outside hitter Kelsey Bittinger and setter Brittney Jakscht, two of four freshmen in the Golden Flashes' starting lineup, tallied double-doubles in their collegiate debut. Bittinger posted a match-high 19 kills and team-high 16 digs, while Jakscht recorded a match-high 43 assists to go with 12 digs. Both players added three blocks.
Kent State scored first in the opening set and trailed for the first time when Mercer took a 13-12 lead. A kill by senior Tinuke Aderemi-Ibitola put the Flashes back in front, 18-17, and they would not relinquish that lead. Bittinger brought the opening set to a close with her seventh kill of the frame.
After dropping the next two sets, the Flashes put up a battle in the fourth. The Flashes were on the brink of forcing a decisive fifth set, but were unable to hold on to a 22-19 lead. After Mercer took three points in a row to tie the score, the teams traded the next four points before the Bears closed it out with two points.
Blocking was an area Gromala wanted to see his team improve this season, and it showed on Friday. Kent State had 15 blocks to equal its singe-match high from last season. Junior Bridget Wilhelm led the way with seven blocks.
"We are a physical team at the net," Gromala said. "But when we had our big blocking set and held their attack to .043, we lost. It shows that we have to be a more complete team and put all of the parts of the game together."
Aderemi-Ibitola had a strong offensive performance for Kent State with 15 kills. Senior Kaylee Koller and freshman Challen Geraghty posted double-digit digs with 15 and 14, respectively.
Kent State returns to the court with a pair of matches on Saturday. The Flashes will take on Davidson at 10 a.m. and host College of Charleston at 7 p.m.
