Kent State University
8-3
Towson University
11-1
Volleyball Drops Pair of Hard-Fought Matches at Tiger Invitational
9/19/2014 7:27:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
TOWSON, MD. – The Kent State volleyball team lost consecutive matches for the first time this season Friday at the Tiger Invitational. The Golden Flashes lost to host Towson, 3-1 (16-25, 15-25, 25-22, 23-25), and St. John's, 3-2 (15-25, 25-12, 22-25, 26-24, 10-15).
"We've got to regroup and look ahead to tomorrow's match," said head coach Don Gromala. "We had a bad match this morning against Towson, but our girls fought back to make it close. In the end we made some bad decisions and it cost us the match. We responded well and played better against St. John's. It came down to crunch time and we couldn't produce at those tight moments like we'd been doing in the past."
Kent State struggled to get going offensively against Towson and finished with just 31 kills and a .042 attack percentage. Junior Kelly Hutchison recorded a team-high eight kills and senior Liz Reikow added seven kills. Freshman Brittney Jakscht totaled 16 assists.
After losing the first two sets, the Flashes turned up its defense following the intermission to take the third set, 25-22, as the Tigers lost a set for just the fifth time this season. After Towson hit .387 in the first two sets, the Flashes clamped down and held the Tigers to just .074 hitting over the final two sets.
"We changed our blocking scheme," Gromala said. "They run a fast offense and it's tough to defend. Our blocking and defense picked up, but we still couldn't get anything going on offense."
Facing an 18-13 deficit, it looked like Kent State might be swept for the first time this season before junior Bridget Wilhelm fueled a 5-0 run that evened the set. Following a service error and attack error by Towson, Wilhelm had back-to-back kills and combined with Hutchison on a block. With Kent State leading 23-22, Towson committed a blocking error and attack error on consecutive points to give the set to the Flashes.
The Flashes had their chances in the fourth despite digging a 16-8 hole to open the set. The Flashes mounted a comeback thanks to rallies of six and four points. While the Flashes were able to tie it at 22 and 23, two serving errors late in the set proved to much to overcome and Towson won 25-23.
Kent State had 13 blocks in the match and was led by Wilhelm's team-high seven blocks. Hutchison and Reikow added four blocks each. Senior Kaylee Koller led the Flashes with eight digs and junior Sarah Mills added seven.
Kent State got off to a slow start against St. John's, dropping the first set 25-15. The Flashes never trailed in the second set, winning 25-12 to tie the match. Despite trailing 19-12, Kent State rallied to tie it at 21-21 in the third. St. John's was able to respond and take the set, 25-22.
A competitive fourth set saw the Flashes take a 23-21 lead on a kill by Reikow. St. John's scored the next three points to lead 24-23. Facing match point, Kent State got kills from outside hitter Tinuke Aderemi-Ibitiola and Hutchison to retake the lead. Aderemi-Ibitiola and Wilhelm then combined on a block to set the match to the fifth set.
St. John's scored the first three points in the fifth and never looked back. The lead reached as much as seven at 14-7. Kent State continued to fight until the end and scored three straight before falling 15-7.
Kent State piled up 14 blocks in the loss with middle blockers Reikow and Wilhelm leading the way with six apiece. Aderemi-Ibitiola and Hutchison contributed five blocks each. Koller led the back row with 12 digs and freshman Kelsey Bittinger added 11 digs. Offensively, Aderemi-Ibitiola and Reikow led the way with 12 kills each. Jakscht handed out 47 assists and added three aces.
Kent State concludes its non-conference schedule with an 11 a.m. match against North Dakota State Saturday morning.
