Kent State University
9-8 (2-2MAC)
Bowling Green
11-6 (1-3MAC)
Falcons Rally to Take Down Flashes, 3-1
10/1/2016 11:03:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – For just the second time this year, Kent State was defeated after winning the first set of a match on Saturday at Bowling Green by a score of 3-1 (25-23, 25-27, 16-25, 17-25).
The Golden Flashes (9-8, 2-2 MAC) are now 0-2 on the road during Mid-American Conference play after posting an outstanding 7-1 road record against conference foes a season ago.
"The first two sets were battles and I thought we did some really nice things offensively, but we couldn't recover after losing a tough one in the second set," said head coach Don Gromala. "We have to do a better job of believing in what we've done to be in the position we're in when we lose a tough set like that. It was a tough road trip and there is a lot we can learn from this weekend."
Senior Drew Norberg was terrific at the net for Kent State with 16 kills and a .387 hitting percentage to go with a season-high five blocks. Eight Flashes recorded a block to contribute to a season-high 11 stuffs. Junior Kelsey Bittinger and freshman Myla King had four blocks each.
Sophomore Lexi Mantas added 12 kills, which is just one off her career-high. Senior Katarina Kojic had 35 assists. Bittinger led the Flashes with 17 digs. Junior Challen Geraghty and sophomore Sam Jones also totaled double-digit digs with 16 and 10, respectively.
Kent State grinded out a 25-23 opening set victory, which featured eight ties. After Bowling Green scored three straight points to even the score, 23-23, Norberg came through with a kill to halt the host's momentum and make it set point for the Flashes. The Falcons followed with an attack error to end the set.
The second set was even more back-and-forth with 12 ties. Kent State's last lead came at 20-19. Mantas and junior Heather Younkin delivered kills to prevent the Falcons from earning a pair of set points, but a kill and a block finally sealed the deal, 27-25.
There were six ties and four lead changes over the first 13 points of the third set, as Kent State held a 7-6 lead. However, a 12-2 run helped Bowling Green take a lead that was too large to overcome. The Flashes doomed themselves with errors that gave the Falcons 17 points in a 25-16 setback.
A 9-2 run was the difference in Bowling Green's 25-17 victory in the fourth set.
Kent State concludes its first time through the MAC East with a visit to Athens to take on Ohio on Thursday, October 6.
