Kent State University
Ohio University
Kent State Volleyball Begins MAC Play on the Road
9/24/2014 12:31:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
KENT, Ohio – After a successful first month of the 2014 season, the Kent State volleyball team opens the Mid-American Conference portion of its schedule with a pair of road matches this week. The Golden Flashes (8-5) will open with Ohio on Thursday and then head to Eastern Michigan on Saturday.
Third-year head coach Don Gromala led Kent State to its best non-conference season since 2008, including wins over three schools (College of Charleston, Morehead State, New Hampshire) who competed at the NCAA Tournament last season. The Flashes won eight of ten matches to open the year before dropping three contests this past weekend at the Tiger Invitational hosted by Towson University.
Seeking to qualify for the MAC Tournament for the second year in a row, this weekend will serve as a good measure for where the team stands in the conference. Ohio and Eastern Michigan met in the MAC Tournament Championship last season with the Bobcats sweeping their way to the conference's automatic bid in the NCAAs. Ohio was selected by the MAC's 12 head coaches as the preseason favorite to win the MAC Tournament, regular season and East Division crowns again this year.
The Flashes will begin their quest to prove preseason prognostications incorrect for the second consecutive season. Kent State was picked to finish fifth in the MAC East in the MAC Volleyball Preseason Coaches Poll that was released in August. While picked to finish sixth in the East Division a year ago, the Flashes finished tied for third in the final standings.
FOLLOW THE FLASHES
Fans can follow all of this week's action online, as both Ohio and Eastern Michigan will be providing live stats and a video stream of the matches. Links to those can be found on our schedule page.
Also, be sure to follow the Flashes on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, as well as the Kent State Volleyball Blog.
LAST TIME OUT
Kent State snapped its streak of three consecutive winning weekends to open the season and lost all three of its matches at the Tiger Invitational over the weekend. The Flashes showed fight throughout the weekend, but could not overcome falling behind in each match. After losing the first two sets to host Towson, the Flashes pushed it to a fourth set and avoided being swept for the first time this season. They were able to force a fifth set in losses to St. John's and North Dakota State, but could not manufacture enough offense and dropped both decisive sets by 15-10 scores.
Senior middle blocker Liz Reikow had a breakout weekend hitting the ball on her way to all-tournament team accolades. Reikow led Kent State with 40 points, 33 kills and a .393 hitting percentage while adding 12 blocks. Junior Bridget Wilhelm paired with Reikow to provide strong play in the middle for the Flashes. Wilhelm had 20 kills on an efficient .340 hitting, added a team-high 15 blocks and tallied a career-high 12 digs in the finale against NDSU.
For the first time this season, the Flashes struggled to score at the pins and hit just .194 as a team. Senior outside hitter Tinuke Aderemi-Ibitola had 29 kills and junior opposite Kelly Hutchison added 26 kills, but they were the only two pins to hit .200 or better for the weekend.
Kent State continued to receive solid contributions from its talented freshmen class. Setter Brittney Jakscht bounced back from a 16-assist performance against Towson with 100 assists combined against St. John's and NDSU. Jakscht registered her third double-double with 53 assists and a career-high 17 digs against the Bison. Defensive specialist/libero Challen Geraghty and outside hitter Kelsey Bittinger shared the team lead with 36 digs. Geraghty also led the Flashes with five aces.
SCOUTING KENT STATE
Senior Liz Reikow and junior Bridget Wilhelm lead a strong block up front, as the Flashes average a MAC-best 2.50 blocks per set. Reikow is second in the conference with 1.15 blocks per set and ranks 26th in the nation with 63 total blocks. Four other Flashes have at least 18 blocks, helping the Flashes limit opponents to a .175 attack percentage.
Kent State tallied a season-high 98 digs against North Dakota State. Freshman Challen Geraghty leads the team with 3.49 digs per set and senior Kaylee Koller adds 2.24 digs per set.
Senior Tinuke Aderemi-Ibitola leads Kent State's offense with 3.49 points and 3.04 kills per set. Freshman Kelsey Bittinger is second on the team with 2.52 kills and 2.87 digs per set. Freshman Brittney Jakscht averages 8.38 assists per set.
SCOUTING OHIO
Ohio (7-4) has won six of its last seven matches after a 1-3 start to the season. The Bobcats played a difficult non-conference schedule and own victories over San Diego State, VCU, Xavier, Ohio State and Syracuse.
The Bobcats boast the past two MAC Player of the Year winners on their roster in senior outside hitter Kelly Lamberti and junior setter Abby Gilleland. Junior middle blocker Karin Bull joined them as preseason All-MAC East selections.
Lamberti earned MAC East Offensive Player of the Week honors on Monday after posting 5.25 per set and a .301 attack percentage at the Wildcat Challenge this past weekend. The All-American ranks 21st nationally in both kills per set (4.32) and points per set (4.99). She also adds 2.80 digs per set on the season.
Gilleland runs the Ohio offense and is averaging 10.24 assists, 1.22 kills and 2.59 digs per set. Bull leads the team with 1.05 blocks per set and adds 1.76 kills per set and a .309 attack percentage on offense.
SCOUTING EASTERN MICHIGAN
Eastern Michigan (8-5) has lost three of its last four matches entering conference play. That victory came last Friday against Youngstown State (3-0), the only common opponent between the Eagles and Flashes.
Senior Jill Briner brings experience and versatility to the setter position for EMU. Briner averages 9.04 assists and 1.98 digs per set on the season. She is also a threat to attack, averaging 1.84 kills per set and hitting .336, which ranks third in the MAC.
Junior outside hitter Stacey Perinar is the top offensive weapon for the Eagles, leading the offense with 3.65 points and 3.28 kills per set. Perinar also contributes 2.86 digs per set. The defense is led by junior libero Corynne Smith, who ranks third in the MAC at 4.30 digs per set.
SERIES HISTORY
Kent State is owns a 24-47 record all-time against Ohio. The Flashes knocked off the 18th-ranked Bobcats on October 10 last season in Kent, but then lost matches in Athens and the first round of the MAC Tournament. Kent State is 16-33-1 all-time against Eastern Michigan, including two straight losses.
NEXT UP
Kent State returns to the M.A.C. Center for MAC contests against Akron and Buffalo next weekend (Oct. 3-4). The match against Akron is part of the PNC Wagon Wheel Challenge with the winner earning a half-point towards the standings for the 2014-15 year.
