Kent State University
7-2
University of Montana
0-9
Volleyball Beats Montana in Five-Setter
9/13/2014 5:57:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
MORGANTOWN, W. VA. –Kent State completed its third consecutive winning weekend to start the season by defeating Montana, 3-2 (26-28, 26-24, 20-25, 25-19, 15-13), Saturday afternoon at the Mountaineer Invitational. The Golden Flashes went 2-1 on the weekend and improved to 7-2 on the season.
"It's nice to be able to get a victory even though we didn't play that great today," said head coach Don Gromala. "Montana played much faster than what we saw last weekend, and we weren't able to block as well as we've been doing this year."
Serving, which has been an area where Kent State has struggled at times this season, keyed the comeback after dropping two of the first three sets. Tied at 19-19 in the fourth set, tough serving by senior defensive specialist/libero Kaylee Koller helped the Flashes score six straight points and force a decisive fifth set. Kent State had five kills during the rally, including two each by senior outside hitter/opposite Lauren Engleman and junior middle blocker Bridget Wilhelm.
Kent State appeared to be in control after jumping out to a 12-7 lead in the fifth set. Montana was able to get within a point, but Engleman delivered a kill to give the Flashes breathing room and a 14-12 lead. While Montana was able to score the next point to stay alive, Engleman crushed her fourth kill of the set give the match to the Flashes.
"Scoring the final six points of the fourth really was a momentum builder that we were able to carry into the final set," Gromala said. "Kaylee really served the ball well to get them out of system and we scrapped on defense."
Kent State got off to a slow start and faced its largest deficit of the opening set at 22-14. The Flashes got back into it by scoring six straight points and eventually took the lead at 25-24. They were unable to finish and Montana went on to win the set, 28-26. The Flashes won a tight second set, 26-24 and jumped out to a 7-3 lead in the third. Montana came right back and went ahead 10-9. Both teams traded points until the Grizzlies used a 4-0 run to bring the set to a close.
The back row stepped up on a day when the team's block was not as effective to out-dig Montana, 96-75. Freshman defensive specialist/libero Challen Geraghty led Kent State with a career-high 29 digs. Koller (14), junior Sarah Mills (12), freshman Kelsey Bittinger (11) and Jakscht (10) also tallied double-digit digs for the Flashes.
Enlgeman provided a bright spot for a Kent State offense that struggled and finished with a .111 attack percentage. After not playing in the first set, Engleman finished with a match-high 16 kills. Middle blockers Liz Reikow and Wilhelm added 10 kills apiece for Kent State. Reikow had an efficient .308 hitting percentage and Wilhelm recorded a team-high five blocks. Freshman setter Brittney Jakscht did not start but totaled 40 assists in the victory and was named to the all-tournament team.
"We tried some different things with our lineup during the match," Gromala said of 13 players seeing action on Saturday. "We tried to find girls who were focused on the things they needed to be doing."
Kent State hosts Youngstown State in a non-conference match on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
