Kent State University
1-3
Illinois
4-0
Golden Flashes Fall to Unbeaten Illinois
9/1/2017 7:29:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Kent State volleyball team was unable to knock Illinois from the ranks of the unbeaten in a 3-0 loss (22-25, 13-25, 16-25) Friday afternoon in the opening match of the Cardinal Classic.
The Golden Flashes (1-3) put together a late run to scare the Fighting Illini in the opening set, but Illinois picked up its block to win the following two sets comfortably and remain undefeated (4-0). Kent State finished the match with a .009 hitting percentage, as the top blocking team in the country recorded 12 stuffs.
Led by senior Challen Geraghty, Kent State held a 46-44 advantage in digs Playing in her hometown for the first time since high school, Geraghty tallied 11 digs in the opening set and ended the match with 23 digs.
"We were happy with our performance in the first set," said head coach Don Gromala. "I thought we played with great energy and put some pressure on them with our serving and defense. We talked about how that is the type of energy we need in every set if we are going to have success."
Kent State came to life after falling behind 19-11 in opening set. The Flashes then used an 11-4 run to get within 23-22, but Illinois responded with a kill and solo block to take the set.
This was Kent State's best offensive set of the match. The Flashes posted 15 of their 28 kills in the set, which was one more than the Illini. Senior Kelsey Bittinger led the way with eight kills and a .333 hitting percentage.
Illinois scored the first four points of the second and stretched it to 8-2, prompting a Flashes timeout. The Illini went on another four-point run late in the set to go ahead, 21-8, and won 25-13.
Kent State started slow again in the third, trailing 6-2, before coming back for an 8-8 tie. Illinois answered by scoring four straight and was in control the rest of the way.
Bittinger had a team-high 11 kills and senior Heather Younkin added six kills. Freshman Natalie Tagala led the Flashes with 16 assists.
Kent State concludes play at the Cardinal Classic with a pair of matches on Saturday. The Flashes battle host Louisville at 12:30 p.m. in a match that will be streamed on the ACC Network Extra and then take on No. 24 WKU at 5:30 p.m.
