Kent State University
5-5
Santa Clara University
7-3
Golden Flashes Fall to Santa Clara, 3-0
9/18/2015 9:40:00โฏPM | Women's Volleyball
SACRAMENTO, Calif. โ Kent State dropped the opening match of the Sacramento State Invitational to Santa Clara, 3-0 (14-25, 16-25, 22-25), at Colberg Court at The Nest Friday evening.
Kent State (5-5) had a difficult time slowing Santa Clara's offense, which hit at a .352 clip overall. The Golden Flashes held a 38-37 edge in digs, but the Broncos owned a decisive 12-3 advantage in blocks.
"We didn't play that well," said head coach Don Gromala. "We didn't take care of first contact and we didn't stop their outside hitters. Our hitting numbers were good because our middles did a good job of putting balls away. We made some changes to our lineup in the third set, and the people we put in did a good job of performing their role. Going into tomorrow, we need to maybe focus on ourselves a little bit more in order to do what we need to do to play well."
Offensively, the Golden Flashes were led by middle blockers Bridget Wilhelm and Drew Norberg. Wilhelm posted a team-high 12 kills with just one error on 17 attempts for a .647 hitting percentage, while Norberg contributed 8 kills and a .375 hitting percentage. Outside hitter Kelsey Bittinger also added 8 kills, while Katarina Kojic handed out 27 assists. Libero Challen Geraghty led all players with 14 digs.
Kent State started the match slowly, as an early 2-1 lead quickly turned into an 8-2 deficit in the opening set. The Flashes were able to get within 9-5 as Bittinger, Wilhelm and Kelly Hutchison contributed kills as part of a 3-1 run. That is as close as it would get, as Santa Clara used a late 5-1 run to pull away for a 25-14 set victory. Kent State's offense had a strong set with a .304 hitting percentage, but the defense allowed the Broncos to record a .464 hitting percentage.
The second set was much more competitive at the outset with four ties in the first 10 points. Following a kill by Bittinger to pull within 9-8, Santa Clara took control of the set with an 11-4 run that featured seven kills and two blocks.
The Flashes continued to battle through their struggles and stayed with the Broncos in a third set that featured 12 ties and 5 lead changes. Four points given away on service errors prevented the Flashes from taking the set. Wilhelm was sensational in the set with 7 kills, as Kent State held a 16-13 advantage in the set. However, Santa Clara recorded six blocks in the frame to just one for the Flashes.
Kent State returns to action on Saturday against host Sacramento State and Nevada for the final matches of the 2015 non-conference schedule.
