Kent State University
3-13, 1-4MAC
Ohio
8-11, 2-3MAC
Flashes Down Ohio for First MAC Win
10/5/2017 11:19:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
KENT, Ohio – The Kent State volleyball team grinded out a 3-2 victory (25-18, 25-12, 17-25, 27-29, 12-15) over visiting Ohio on Thursday night at the M.A.C. Center to earn the first Mid-American Conference victory of the year.
The Golden Flashes (3-13, 1-4 MAC) led wire-to-wire in the first two sets of the night but were in a battle the rest of the way. The final three sets featured 26 ties and 10 lead changes.
"This was a great battle tonight, and I really liked the resiliency the team showed to get the first conference win against a good Ohio team," said head coach Don Gromala. "We haven't been up 2-0 often this year, and I loved how the team responded once Ohio forced a fifth set. I thought we had another strong match with our serve, which helped us go on some runs in key moments."
Freshman Natalie Tagala totaled 48 assists and 17 digs for her team-leading seventh double-double of the season. Senior Kelsey Bittinger paced the Flashes' offense with 15 kills and also had 14 digs. Bittinger stepped up in the clutch with four kills and no errors on 10 swings in the fifth set.
Senior Heather Younkin and sophomore Myla King complemented Bittinger's offensive performance. Younkin posted a season-high 14 kills, while King had 11 kills. Both players had three total blocks to share the team lead.
Senior Challen Geraghty tallied 25 digs to lead all players. Sophomore Claire Tulisiak and junior Sam Jones added 14 digs and 12 digs, respectively.
Kent State hits the road to play at Central Michigan on Saturday 7 p.m.
