Kent State University
4-3
Robert Morris University
4-3
Flashes Sweep Colonials for Bounce-Back Victory
9/6/2016 10:01:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
KENT, Ohio – Kent State responded well to adversity with a 3-0 (25-14, 25-18, 25-21) victory over Robert Morris on Tuesday night at the M.A.C. Center. After being handed consecutive setbacks to end the weekend, the Golden Flashes came out strong and continued to play with a high energy level to complete the sweep.
"We had a really good practice yesterday and talked a lot to the team about our energy," said head coach Don Gromala. "I really like how we came out and executed but faded offensively as the match went on. They made some adjustments that we didn't adjust to from our end, and that's something we have to take a look at. Our defense was gritty and provided good energy to give us extra opportunities to score points. We really executed really well in pass and serve and stressed them out with our serving, which was a key."
The Flashes scored the first four points of the night and were in control throughout the match. Kent State led the entire opening set and trailed just twice in the second set, the last time coming at 6-5. Robert Morris put up its biggest fight in the third and held a 14-11 lead before the Flashes finished on a 14-7 run. Overall, Kent State trailed for just 20 points the entire night.
Kent State held a decisive 47-31 advantage in kills and outhit the Colonials, .264-.183. The Flashes had six aces while allowing just one ace in return. Pressure applied by the Flashes' attack and serving caused the Colonials to be unable to counter-attack on several occasions and led to the Flashes finishing with 28 more attack attempts and a 52-46 deficit in digs.
Senior Katarina Kojic finished with 39 assists and distributed sets to several players, as five Flashes had at least seven kills. Senior Drew Norberg posted a season-best 12 kills to lead all players. Junior Heather Younkin added an efficient 11 kills with only one error on 21 attempts for a .476 hitting percentage. Redshirt freshman Darby Connors had eight kills and junior Amber Gerdeman recorded a career-high seven kills on just 15 attempts without any errors. Sophomore Lexi Mantas also had seven kills.
Junior Challen Geraghty led Kent State defensively with 15 digs and was perfect in 18 service receptions. Sophomore Sam Jones added eight digs. Kojic was the Flashes' top blocker with four total blocks.
Kent State goes back on the road this weekend for three matches at the UE Tournament in Evansville, Indiana. The Flashes will play Dayton on Friday and then Austin Peay and Evansville on Saturday.
