Kent State University
1-0
Morgan State University
0-2
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kent State | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
| Morgan State | 14 | 13 | 17 | 0 |
High-Powered Offense Leads Kent State Volleyball to Split at Maryland Invite
8/28/2015 8:18:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The Kent State volleyball team was hitting on all cylinders to start the 2015 season en route to a split on the first day of competition at the Maryland Invite. The Golden Flashes took care of Morgan State in straight sets (25-14, 25-13, 25-17) to get the day started and then fell to Hofstra, 3-1 (25-18, 9-25, 22-25, 23-25).
The Golden Flashes won their first four sets of the day and earned a victory in their season-opener for the first time since 2011.
"It was a tale of two matches, as you can see by our results," said head coach Don Gromala. "Playing against Morgan State, we did a really good job of executing. Going into Hofstra, we knew it would be a more competitive match. Hofstra is a great team and did some really good things. We were just a couple of points away, and hopefully we can make those changes for a couple of points tomorrow."
Match 1: Kent State 3, Morgan State 0 (25-14, 25-13, 25-17)
Kent State posted a .392 hitting percentage en route to a wire-to-wire sweep of Morgan State. The Flashes' six players that had a kill in the match posted a hitting percentage of .300 or better in the victory.
Sophomore Heather Younkin christened the 2015 season with a kill on the Flashes' first swing of the day. The Flashes scored the first four points of the match and never allowed the lead to dip under three the rest of the opening set. Younkin finished off the set with another kill, which gave the Flashes their largest lead at 25-14.
A 6-0 spurt helped Kent State take an early 8-2 lead and control of the second set. Following a four-point rally by Morgan State trimmed the deficit to six, the Flashes scored six of the next eight to coast to a 25-13 victory.
Another strong start gave the Flashes a 5-0 lead in the third set. That lead extended to 10-2 and was never cut to fewer than four the rest of the way. Middle blockers Darby Connors, Drew Norberg and Bridget Wilhelm combined to hit .421 with 10 kills in the set.
"We knew we had some advantages offensively and defensively," Gromala said. "I thought we did a really good job of playing within ourselves, playing steady volleyball. We had a high hitting percentage, kept them low and did some really good things."
Sophomore Kelsey Bittinger paced a balanced offensive attack with 11 kills to go with a team-high 8 digs. Junior Katarina Kojic led the way with 17 assists and sophomore Brittney Jakscht contributed 15 assists.
Match 2: Hofstra 3, Kent State 1 (25-18, 9-25, 22-25, 23-25)
Slow starts to set doomed Kent State in a four-set loss to Hofstra. The Flashes had a tough time getting the offense going and hit just .110 in the match, while Hofstra totaled 14.5 blocks.
After falling behind 4-1 to start the match, Kent State went on an 18-5 run to take a commanding 19-9 lead. Tough serving by Challen Geraghty and Sam Jones played a key role in getting the Pride out of system, resulting in them hitting just -.069 in the set.
Hofstra jumped out to a 7-1 lead en route to a 25-9 win in the second set to tie the match. The third set saw the Pride take a 5-1 lead. It extended to six points at 18-12 before Kent State fought its way back. The Flashes got within a point one three occasions—21-20, 22-21 and 23-22—but were unable to score the tying point each time before falling 25-22.
Facing a 14-6 deficit in the fourth set, Kent State mounted a comeback and took a 21-19 lead. Hofstra won the next two points to tie the set, but an attack error put the Flashes back in the lead. Kent State could not get any more kills and dropped the set and the match.
"We came out strong and I think they were a little caught off guard. Then they pushed back and made some adjustments we weren't ready for, which is why sets three and four were so close. Our middles really stepped up. They were what kept us in the game. Drew and Bridget did a great job of putting balls away and our defense started picking it up and controlling some more attacks."
Sophomore Kelsey Bittinger led Kent State with 12 kills. Bridget Wilhelm contributed 10 kills, while junior Drew Norberg added career-bests of 8 kills and 6 blocks. Junior Katarina Kojic recorded 24 assists and 6 digs. Sophomore Challen Geraghty led the defense with 15 digs, freshman Sam Jones with 11 digs.
Kent State concludes play at the Maryland Invite on Saturday a 3 p.m. match against Duquesne before taking on host Maryland at 8 p.m.
