Kent State University
4-15, 2-6MAC
Toledo
10-10, 5-3MAC
Offense Struggles in Loss to Rockets
10/14/2017 11:50:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
KENT, Ohio – Kent State lost 3-0 (23-25, 22-25, 15-25) to Toledo on Saturday at the M.A.C. Center.
The Golden Flashes (4-15, 2-6 MAC) held four-point leads late in each of the first two sets and led at the midpoint of the third set but were unable to hold their lead in any of them. As a team, Kent State had a .156 hitting percentage, and senior Kelsey Bittinger accounted for 18 of the team's 38 kills on the night.
"We played right with Toledo in the first two sets and then kind of ran out of gas," said head coach Don Gromala. "We had good starts to each set, but just couldn't sideout in some big moments to stop their runs. I thought we passed well and had some things that were working early on. But Toledo's defense started to slow us down. Their libero played a terrific match. As a staff, we are going to have to find some different ways put our players in position to score points in future matches."
With the offense struggling, the defense stepped up to keep the Flashes close. Kent State posted 75 digs on the night, which is tied for the 11th-most in a three-set match in the country this season entering the weekend. Senior Challen Geraghty's math-high 29 digs are tied for the fourth-most in a three-setter in the country this season entering the weekend. Geraghty moved ahead of Northern Illinois' Gina Guide for fifth on the Mid-American Conference career digs list with 2,268.
Sophomore Claire Tulisiak added 15 digs, the most that he has tallied in a three-set match. Junior Lexi Mantas was also in double-digits with 11 digs.
Bittinger was a force for the Flashes' attack for most of the first two sets. Her 13th kill of the night put Kent State ahead 21-17 in set 2. Bittinger had just two errors on 26 attempts for a .423 hitting percentage at that point. However, the senior was held to .074 hitting and only five kills the rest of the match.
Senior Heather Younkin posted eight kills and an effective .333 hitting percentage. Younkin also had two total blocks. Freshman Natalie Tagala recorded 34 assists.
Kent State begins the second half of the conference season on the road next weekend. The Flashes will play at Western Michigan on Friday (Oct. 20) and then head to Northern Illinois on Saturday (Oct. 21).
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