Kent State University
4-4
University of Dayton
8-0
Golden Flashes Push Unbeaten Dayton in Loss
9/9/2016 9:17:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The Kent State volleyball team was unable to knock Dayton from the ranks of the unbeaten in a 3-0 loss (22-25, 19-25, 25-27) Friday evening at the Dunn Hospitality Tournament.
The Golden Flashes are now 4-4 and have lost three of their last four contests. The sixth-ranked team in the VolleyballMag.com Mid-Major Poll, the Flyers improved to 8-0 and have lost just five sets this season.
Kent State recorded a solid .233 hitting percentage, which included a .317 mark in the final set. However, the Flashes allowed Dayton to hit .331, which the best hitting percentage by an opponent this season. After forcing nine attack errors by the Flyers in the first set, Dayton had just five error and a .432 hitting percentage over the final two sets.
Senior Drew Norberg led the Flashes with 13 kills. Junior Kelsey Bittinger also totaled double-figure kills with 11 in her return to the lineup. Senior Katarina Kojic finished with 39 assists for the second straight match.
Junior Challen Geraghty had a team-high 15 digs. Kojic had nine digs, just missing her first double-double of the season. Sophomores Lexi Mantas and Sam Jones added eight and seven digs, respectively.
Kent State nearly handed the Flyers just their sixth set loss of the season in the third. A kill by Norberg gave the Flashes a 24-22 lead, but Dayton fought off two set points and took a 25-24 lead. Junior Amber Gerdeman then recorded a kill to keep Kent State alive, but Lauren Bruns followed with back-to-back kills for Dayton to end the match.
Kent State concludes play at the Dunn Hospitality Tournament with a pair of matches on Saturday. The Flashes will take on Austin Peay at 11 a.m. and then battle host Evansville at 7:30 p.m. in an ESPN3 broadcast.
