Kent State University
1-0
Stetson University
0-1
Geraghty Moves Into Fourth on Career Digs List as Flashes Go 1-1 on Opening Day of 2016 Season
8/26/2016 10:33:00โฏPM | Women's Volleyball
Match 1 (pdf)ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Match 2 (pdf)
ORLANDO, Fla. โ Kent State displayed gritty defense and the ability to make in-game adjustments in splitting its games on the opening day of the 2016 season at the Holiday Inn Orlando East/UCF Invitational. The Golden Flashes took care of Stetson in four sets (25-17, 22-25, 25-9, 25-17) to get the day started and then fell to host UCF, 3-1 (19-25, 14-25, 25-23, 21-25).
"It was great a pretty up and down day, but there were a lot of positive takeaways from our performances," said head coach Don Gromala. "Overall, I thought we got better throughout the day. Our defense was pretty steady. We were a little inconsistent offensively, but we started to pick it up as each match went on. We rotated a lot of players in, and they were able to produce when given the opportunity. It was good to go out there and get those first game jitters out of the way and tomorrow presents an opportunity to start the season with a winning weekend."
The Flashes received contributions from several players, as 13 of the 16 members of the team made appearances.
Reigning Mid-American Conference Defensive Player of the Year Challen Geraghty led a scrappy defensive effort that kept opponents to a .200 hitting percentage. Geraghty tallied 45 digs on the day, surpassing both Kristen Barr (2007-10) and Danielle Holt (2002-05) to move into fourth on Kent State's career digs list (1,256).
Kent State played like a different team offensively following the break between sets two and three in both matches. The Flashes hit at a .346 clip and averaged 15.5 kills per set in sets three and four compared to a .120 hitting percentage and 10.3 kills per set in the first two sets.
Junior Kelsey Bittinger paced Kent State with 31 kills. Fellow junior Heather Younkin added 22 kills. Senior Katarina Kojic had 52 assists while sharing setting duties with junior Brittney Jakscht (26 assists).ย
Kent State concludes play at the Holiday Inn Orlando East/UCF Invitational at 11 a.m. Saturday against Stony Brook.
