Kent State University
4-13, 2-4MAC
Central Michigan
10-8, 2-4MAC
Flashes Impress in Road Sweep of Chippewas
10/7/2017 10:45:00โฏPM | Women's Volleyball
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MT. PLEASANT, Mich. โ The Kent State volleyball team put together its most complete performance of the season and steamrolled Central Michigan, 3-0 (27-25, 25-15, 25-16) Saturday night inside McGuirk Arena.
The Golden Flashes (4-13, 2-4 MAC), which have won back-to-back matches for the first time this season, earned their first road victory of the year.
"Tonight's win was a team effort," said head coach Don Gromala. "We played a really complete game. Our middles were scoring, which opened up opportunities for our pins to put the ball away and have big nights. Natalie [Tagala] and Brittney [Jakscht] both made good sets. Our defensive execution was really on, and our back row players passed the ball well."
Kent State had its top offensive performance of the season with 47 kills and only 11 errors for a .330 hitting percentage. The kills are the most in a three-setter since last year's conference opener against Buffalo (57) and the hitting percentage was the highest since the final conference match in 2015, also against Buffalo (.361).
Outside hitters Kelsey Bittinger and Lexi Mantas led the offensive attack and also were key contributors in the back row defensively. Bittinger had a season-high .469 hitting percentage with 16 kills and only one error on 32 swings and added 11 digs. Mantas, who missed the first three weekends of the season, posted season-bests of 11 kills and a .250 hitting percentage along with 12 digs.
In the middle, the Flashes got solid contributions from Amber Gerdeman and Myla King. Gerdeman had five kills with zero errors for a .417 hitting percentage and added a team-high four blocks. King added six kills and one block.
Freshman Natalie Tagala tallied 37 assists, eight digs and two kills.
Challen Geraghty had a match-high 20 digs to lead the Flashes to a 61-45 advantage. Geraghty recorded 10 digs in the opening set, which were more than any CMU player had for the entire match. The senior moved into eighth on the Mid-American Conference's career digs list (2,217), passing Eastern Michigan's Ashley Cudney. Claire Tulisiak added nine digs for Kent State.
The opening set featured 16 ties and four lead changes. A kill by Mantas put the Flashes ahead, 24-23, for the first of three set point opportunities. After putting Kent State ahead 26-25 with a kill, Bittinger followed with another kill to take the set, 27-25. The second set had seven ties and three lead changes, but the Flashes ran away with a 15-4 run to lead 2-0 at the intermission for the second straight match. After CMU scored the first point in the third, Kent State answered with an 8-2 run and never led by fewer than five points after the hosts got within 9-5.
"Centralย Michigan is a good team, and I think the outcome may have been different if we wouldn't have won that close first set," added Gromala. "Our team scrapped and worked hard together. We need to continue doing those things in order to carry the momentum forward to next weekend."
Kent State returns to the M.A.C. Center for Homecoming Weekend with a pair of cross-divisional matchups. The Flashes will host Ball State for the annual 'Dig Pink' match on Friday, Oct. 13 and then battle Toledo on Saturday, Oct. 14. Both matches are scheduled for 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN3.
