Kent State University
5-2
West Virginia University
7-1
Golden Flashes Split Pair at Mountaineer Invitational Friday
9/12/2014 6:17:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
MORGANTOWN, W. VA. – After losing for the first time since the season opener on August 29, the Kent State volleyball team responded with a dominant defensive performance to earn a split of two matches Friday at the Mountaineer Invitational. The Golden Flashes lost to host West Virginia in their first match of the day, 3-1 (25-19, 12-25, 16-25, 24-26), and then defeated Saint Francis (Pa.), 3-1, later in the afternoon (25-27, 25-14, 25-18, 25-15).
"It was a tale of two totally different matches," said head coach Don Gromala. "The way we came out against West Virginia was great. We knew they are a physical team and they made adjustments on us offensively that we just couldn't recover from. Against Saint Francis, we mixed up our blocking a little bit. We were much more disciplined and it was easier for us to cover the adjustments they made."
Kent State (6-2) continued its strong offensive play from last weekend and hit at a .346 clip to stun host West Virginia in the opening set of the day. The Mountaineers had won 18 straight sets since being swept by No. 9 BYU to open the season, but the Flashes prevailed in a highly competitive set that featured 14 ties and nine lead changes.
"The first set against West Virginia was probably some of the best volleyball we have played all year," Gromala said. "We came out that first set and everything—our offense, our defense and our serving—was just on-point."
Senior outside hitter Tinuke Aderemi-Ibitola and freshman outside hitter Kelsey Bittinger led the attack with four kills each in the first set. Trailing 17-16, the duo sparked a seven-point run to swing momentum in favor of the Flashes. Bittinger got it started with a kill and Aderemi-Ibitola added two kills of her own. An ace by Bittinger was followed by two WVU attack errors. Aderemi-Ibitola put Kent State ahead 23-17 with a solo block and delivered a kill to end the set a few plays later.
West Virginia won the next two sets by comfortable margins as Kent State's offense struggled. The Flashes regrouped in the fourth set and were in position to force a fifth set, but a serve for set point sailed into the net. The Mountaineers took advantage of the miscue and scored the next two points to bring the match to a close.
"We came back in the fourth set and had an opportunity to go five but let it get out of our hands. West Virginia is a good team. To beat them, we have to play better than just 'good' and we didn't play well enough."
Aderemi-Ibitola paced the offense with 12 kills, while senior outside hitter/opposite Lauren Engleman added eight kills after entering for the first time midway through the third set. Freshman setter Brittney Jakscht totaled 36 assists and a team-high three blocks. Freshman defensive specialist/libero Challen Geraghty led the defense with 13 digs.
Kent State got off to another good start against Saint Francis and had its largest lead at 13-7. The Red Flash tied the score on two occasions, but the Golden Flashes seemed to regain control with a 23-19 lead. Saint Francis scored four straight to even the set and went on to earn a 27-25 opening set victory.
The Flashes trailed just twice, and never by more than two, the rest of the way as the offense returned to form. After hitting just .079 in the opening set, the Flashes hit at a .289 clip the rest of the way. Engleman led all players with a season-high 15 kills.
"We felt we needed to be a little more physical at the net against WVU. They had a really good right-side attack going, so we put Lauren in to mix it up offensively. Lauren did a great job of coming in and doing what she needed to do. I think that kind of carried over into that next match."
Jakscht recorded 44 assists and spread the ball around as four Flashes finished with at least nine kills.
While it took offense some time to find its rhythm against the Red Flash, the defense was sensational throughout the match. Kent State allowed Saint Francis to hit .021 for the match and caused them to commit as many errors as kills in two sets. The Flashes recorded 13 blocks, led by the play of middle blocker Liz Reikow. The 6-6 senior had a career night defensively with 11 blocks (5 solo, 6 assists).
Kent State is back in action at the Mountaineer Invitational on Saturday against Montana at 2 p.m
