Kent State University
1-9
Towson
13-0
Career Performances Lead Flashes to Split at Golden Grizzlies Invite
9/16/2017 9:58:00โฏPM | Women's Volleyball
Match 1 (pdf)ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Match 2 (pdf)
ROCHESTER, Mich. โ Kent State had six players post career-highs as the non-conference portion of the schedule came to an end with a victory on Saturday. The Golden Flashes started the day with a 3-0 (10-25, 24-26, 20-25) setback to undefeated Towson before battling to take down Fort Wayne, 3-2 (27-25, 25-19, 23-25, 22-25, 15-13), in their final match at the Golden Grizzlies Invitational.
After being dismantled by Towson, 25-10, to start the day, the Golden Flashes (2-9) came right back and nearly handed the Tigers just their seventh set loss of the season in the second before going on to be swept. Kent State went past three sets for the first time this season in the nightcap. After leading 2-0, the Flashes had to rally in the fifth to build momentum heading into the start of Mid-American Conference play next weekend.
"It is great to be able to grind out a win to end the weekend and build momentum as we prepare to start our conference season," said head coach Don Gromala. "I think it all started this morning. Towson kind of took it to us in that first set, but we started to fight back and gained a little momentum for later in the day. Having to win a close fifth set against Fort Wayne after being up 2-0 is a crucial step for this team."
Kent State received several standout defensive performances and averaged 20.12 digs per set and 1.75 blocks per set. Senior libero Challen Geraghty paced the floor defense with 46 digs and senior outside hitter Kelsey Bittinger contributed 32 digs. Freshman setter Natalie Tagala had 27 digs and sophomore defensive specialist Claire Tulisiak added 23 digs, while junior outside hitter Lexi Mantas tallied 22 digs in just one match.
Sophomore middle blocker Annie Ennesser had a team-high 10 total blocks. Ennesser matched her career-high with four blocks against Towson and then set a new career-high with six blocks against Fort Wayne. Senior opposite Heather Younkin totaled six blocks, including Kent State's lone solo block on the day.
Offensively, Bittinger led the way with 27 kills. Sophomore middle blocker Myla King set a new career-high in both matches and finished with 21 kills. Ennesser (12), Tagala (11) and Younkin (10) also recorded double-digit kills. Tagala also tallied 74 assists.
Geraghty was named to the Golden Grizzlies Invitational All-Tournament Team with an average of 5.18 digs per set over the three matches. She now has 2,084 career digs and ranks 13th in the MAC record book.
Up Next
Kent State visits rival Akron in the MAC opener for both teams next Friday (Sept. 22) evening and then heads to Buffalo for a Saturday (Sept. 23) contest.
Follow the Flashes
Be sure to follow Kent State Volleyball onย Twitter,ย Instagramย andย Facebookย for news and updates about the squad.
