Kent State University
12-11, 5-5MAC
Northern Illinois University
18-4, 10-0MAC
Flashes Push First-Place Huskies to Brink in Five-Set Setback
10/22/2016 10:44:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
KENT, Ohio – The Kent State volleyball team overcame adversity to force a fifth set with first-place Northern Illinois Saturday night at the M.A.C. Center, but ultimately came out on the short end of a 3-2 decision (25-19, 22-25, 10-25, 25-22, 11-15).
The Golden Flashes (12-11, 5-5 MAC) have played four consecutive five-setters, winning each of the past two Fridays and coming up short the past two Saturdays. Northern Illinois (18-4, 8-0) remains unbeaten in Mid-American Conference play and has won 13 straight matches.
Junior Kelsey Bittinger had one of the best matches of her outstanding collegiate career with a season-high 24 kills on a .345 hitting percentage. Bittinger added 11 digs for her ninth double-double of the season, as well as two blocks and two aces. For the second time in as many nights, sophomore Lexi Mantas posted a new career-high for kills. Mantas had 19 kills, including seven in the fourth set. The duo combined for 29 kills and a .455 hitting percentage in the two sets won by the Flashes.
"This was one of most exciting matches I've been a part of," said head coach Don Gromala. "It was really cool to see the fight our team put into that fourth set to give us an opportunity to win this match. Offensively, Lexi and Kelsey had a lot on their shoulders tonight and they did a good job of handling that and scoring big points when we needed them."
Junior Challen Geraghty paced the defense with 25 digs. Junior Brittney Jakscht added a season-high 15 digs, while freshman Claire Tulisiak contributed 11 digs. Freshman Myla King led the Flashes with three blocks.
Jakscht led the way with 32 assists while sharing setting duties with senior Katarina Kojic, who finished with 20 assists.
Bittinger put Kent State on the board first in the decisive fifth set with a kill. NIU then misjudged a serve by Geraghty that landed in for a 2-0 lead. A 6-2 run put the Huskies ahead, but a kill later on by Mantas tied it, 7-7. NIU retook the lead on a kill after narrowly sending it back over the net inside of the antenna following a tough serve by Kojic as the teams switched sides of the court.
Mantas tied it back up, 8-8, with another kill when action resumed, but the Huskies took the lead for good when the Flashes committed an attack error and a ball handling error on the next two points. King's career-high seventh kill of the match got Kent State within a point at 12-11, but NIU scored the next three points to close it out.
Kent State will embark on its final road weekend of the season when it visits Akron (Oct. 28) and Buffalo (Oct. 29) to bring the month of October to a close.
