Kent State University
19-9, 13-3MAC
University at Buffalo
7-21, 6-10MAC
Volleyball Sweeps Past Bulls to Earn First MAC East Title in Program History
11/14/2015 8:38:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Box score (pdf)
2015 MAC Volleyball Championship Bracket (pdf)
KENT, Ohio – The Kent State volleyball team knew it could make history entering the weekend and rose to the challenge by earning consecutive 3-0 victories and a share of the first Mid-American Conference East Division championship in school history. After taking care of rival Akron in just 76 minutes on Friday, the Golden Flashes beat Buffalo, 3-0 (25-16, 26-17, 25-23), in 84 minutes on Saturday afternoon.
"This was the epitome of our season and our team today, a great team effort," said head coach Don Gromala. "I thought we played really good floor defense and scrapped all over the place. Our offense was really balanced as well."
The Flashes (19-9, 13-3 MAC) posted a .361 team hitting percentage and held a decisive 56-33 advantage in kills. Setter Katarina Kojic had Kent State's offense running on all cylinders and finished with 41 assists while adding three kills on four attempts. Four players had double-digit kills, as outside hitter Kelsey Bittinger and opposite Kelly Hutchison led the way with 13 apiece. Middle blockers Bridget Wilhelm and Drew Norberg were nearly unstoppable for the Flashes. Wilhelm had 12 kills and a .556 hitting percentage, while Norberg recorded kills on 10 of her 15 swings without any errors for a .667 hitting percentage.
Kent State put its recent slow starts behind and never trailed in the opening set after scoring the first three points of the match, as Wilhelm found holes in the Buffalo defense for consecutive kills and Kojic served an ace. The Bulls threatened to tie after cutting it to 7-6, but Kojic dumped it over the net for a kill to spark a 5-0 run that helped the Flashes pull away.
Buffalo flipped the script in the second set and took the first three points before Bittinger put Kent State on the scoreboard with a kill. The Flashes took their first lead of the set at 6-5 and the teams traded points until a 5-1 run put the Flashes in control with a 15-11 lead.
The third set was the most competitive and featured 16 ties and four lead changes. Buffalo took a 4-3 lead and Kent State struggled to regain the lead, tying the score nine times, before a block by Wilhelm put the Flashes ahead 19-18. The Bulls regrouped during a timeout to take a 22-21, prompting Kent State to call timeout. Hutchison and outside hitter Lexi Mantas delivered consecutive kills to put ahead back in the lead before the Bulls tied it at 23-23. A Buffalo attack sailed past the end line to give the Flashes match point, and Norberg crushed an overpass on the next point to seal the historic victory for Kent State.
In addition to capturing the first division crown in school history, the win was the 13th in MAC play, which bests the previous mark of 11 during the 2007 season.
"We knew we were good the last two years and we had some big wins, but our focus has been on managing that high level of play not for just a set or a match, but for an entire season," said Gromala. "We've really done that over these last 13 MAC matches. This year everybody has really been on board and understands their roles, that we have to win as a team, and they've done a really good job of executing day in and day out."
Kent State enters next weekend's MAC Volleyball Championship, which will be played in in Athens, Ohio, as the No. 3 seed. The Golden Flashes will play the winner between Ball State and Buffalo in a quarterfinal match at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.
