Kent State University
5-22, 3-13MAC
Eastern Michigan
14-17, 7-9MAC
Volleyball Celebrates Senior Class
11/12/2017 12:27:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
KENT, Ohio – All five members of the senior class were top contributors on Senior Day and Kent State lost to Eastern Michigan, 3-1 (22-25, 25-16, 15-25, 17-25), on Saturday at the M.A.C. Center.
Libero Challen Geraghty had a match-high 28 digs to lead a terrific defensive performance in which the Golden Flashes (5-22, 3-13 MAC) held an 82-78 advantage in digs and limited the Eagles to a .145 hitting percentage. Outside hitter Kelsey Bittinger recorded her 14 double-double of the season with 11 kills and 15 digs.
Opposite Heather Younkin led Kent State with three total blocks and was second on the team with seven kills. Middle blocker Amber Gerdeman was right behind with six kills and two blocks.
Setter Brittney Jakscht stuffed the stat sheet with 32 assists, seven digs, five kills, two aces and two blocks.
"It's going to be tough to replace these five young women," said head coach Don Gromala. "They are amazing people and have done a lot for this program."
After splitting the first 12 points of the match, Eastern Michigan scored five in a row to take an 11-6 lead in the opening set. An ace by Jakscht got tied it at 16-16, but the Eagles scored the next four points. The Flashes cut the deficit to a point, 23-22, on a kill by sophomore Ashley Makruski before giving away the next two points on a service error and a ball handling error.
Kent State had one of its best offensive sets of the season in the second en route to a 25-15 victory to tie the match heading into the intermission. The Flashes posted 13 kills and just two errors on 34 attempts for a .324 hitting percentage. Bittinger paced the offense with five kills in as many attempts, while Jakscht had three kills on four attempts.
The Flashes were unable to carry that momentum into the third set. They had just six kills in the set with 11 errors on 31 attempts for a -.161 hitting percentage. EMU's strong net defense helped the guests pull away in the early portion of the set. The Eagles held a 7-3 lead and then had blocks on five of the next six points as part of a 9-1 run.
Kent State held an 11-8 lead in the fourth before EMU scored six straight as part of a 10-1 run to take control.
Notes
• Senior libero Challen Geraghty set a single-season program record for digs per set, finishing the season with an average of 5.91.
• Geraghty's 561 total digs are the 5th-most in a season in school history.
• Geraghty finished her career with 2,441 digs to rank 19th all-time in NCAA Division I. She ranks 22nd in digs per set (5.39).
• Senior outside hitter Kelsey Bittinger finished the season with an average of 3.88 kills per set, which is 9th on Kent State's single-season list and the most since Arjola Prenga posted 4.25 kills per set during the 2009 season.
• Bittinger concluded her career with 1,472 kills and 1,332 digs to rank third and fourth, respectively, in program history.
• Senior setter Brittney Jakscht's 1,645 career assists rank 8th in the Kent State record book.
