Kent State University
Bowling Green
Volleyball Hosts BG, Miami for First MAC Home Matches
9/29/2017 11:01:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
KENT, Ohio — The Kent State volleyball team returns to the M.A.C. Center for the second weekend of the Mid-American Conference season. The Golden Flashes will play Bowling Green (5-8, 1-1 MAC) on Friday and preseason MAC East favorite Miami on Saturday. Both matches will be streamed on ESPN3 and are scheduled for 7 p.m.
The volleyball match on Saturday will conclude a day-long celebration of Kent State Athletics. The 39th Varsity "K" Athletics Hall of Fame induction ceremony will honor nine new members and take place in the Student Center Ballroom at 10 a.m. At 3:30 p.m., the football team starts the conference season against Buffalo over at Dix Stadium.
WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Friday, Sept. 29
7 p.m. Bowling Green at Kent State – Live Stats • Video
Saturday, Sept. 30
7 p.m. Miami at Kent State – Live Stats • Video
LAST TIME OUT
Kent State went 0-2 on the first MAC weekend of the season for the first time since 2014, which is also the last time its first two conference matches played were played on the road. Four of seven sets were decided by three points or fewer with the Golden Flashes going 1-3. Kent State had one of its best offensive matches of the years Saturday at Buffalo with a season-best .250 hitting percentage and 39 kills, which are their second-most in 11 three-set matches.
Senior outside hitter Kelsey Bittinger had a big offensive weekend with 30 kills (4.29/set) and a .369 hitting percentage. Bittinger terminated more than half of her swings at Buffalo on Saturday with 13 kills and just two errors on 24 attempts to record a season-best .458 hitting percentage. She had 17 kills along with one ace and one block solo for 19 points vs. rival Akron in Friday's conference opener. Junior outside hitter Lexi Mantas (14 kills), sophomore middle blocker Myla King (10 kills) and senior opposite Heather Younkin (10 kills) also contributed double-digit kills.
Freshman setter Natalie Tagala recorded 57 assists (8.14/set) while running the offense.
Senior libero Challen Geraghty tallied 31 digs (4.43/set) to move ahead of Michaele Blackburn (Ohio) and Alyssa Rio (Ball State) for 11th on the Mid-American Conference career digs list with 2,115.
SCOUTING BOWLING GREEN
The Falcons (5-8) seek back-to-back wins for the first time this season and are off to a 1-1 start in MAC play after splitting last weekend's matches. Bowling Green stole the opening set from Miami on the road in its first conference match but then lost its next five sets. All three set losses to the RedHawks came by just two points. After falling behind 2-0 at home against a struggling Northern Illinois squad (1-16), the Falcons took the next three sets.
For the second straight year, BG boasts the national leader in digs per set. Libero Kallie Seimet (6.63 digs/set) has been recognized as MAC East Defensive Player of the Week each of the past four weeks. In last week's four-setter at Miami, Seimet broke her own school record with 45 digs. She held the previous record with 44 digs earlier in the season against Seton Hall and added 44 more digs this past Saturday vs. NIU to give her the top three dig totals in the country. Seimet is averaging 9.89 digs per set in conference matches. As a team, the Falcons are 16th in the country at 17.58 digs per set.
Outside hitter Jacqueline Askin leads BG with 12 kills (2.56/set) and 13 aces, while outside hitter Nicole Slimko (2.56 kills/set) is coming off her top two performances of her senior season. Slimko posted 20 kills against NIU after totaling 14 at Miami to rank seventh in the MAC at 3.78 kills per set in league play. Freshman Katie Kidwell is fourth in the conference in blocks (1.00/set) and has recorded 22 stuffs (1.57/set) over the last three matches.
SCOUTING MIAMI
The RedHawks (9-6) enter at No. 21 in this week's VolleyballMag.com Mid-Major Poll presented by the NIVC. The defending MAC regular season champions received 11 of 12 first-place votes to win the MAC East Division and eight votes to win the MAC Tournament in the MAC Preseason Coaches' Poll. Miami defeated Bowling Green to start the conference schedule and then lost to Western Michigan last weekend. Both matches went four sets.
The opening weekend of MAC play saw Miami forced to switch from a 6-2 offense to a 5-1 offense on the fly after setter Mackenzie Zielinski went down with an injury on Wednesday in practice. Freshman Morgan Seaman (5.34 assists/set) was up to the task, as she averaged 10.88 assists per set and 5.00 digs per set as the RedHawks ran a 5-1 offense for the first time since 2009.
Miami has a balanced attack and is second in the conference in kills (13.39/set). Right side/middle hitter Margaret Payne leads the way with 2.74 kills per set and a .324 hitting percentage. Katie Tomasic (2.53 kills/set), Stela Kukoc (2.39 kills/set) and Olivia Rusek (1.96 kills/set) have all posted 100 kills on the season.
Libero Maeve McDonald is Miami's all-time digs with 1,819 digs, which ranks sixth among active NCAA Division I players. McDonald is 32nd nationally is digs per set this season (5.12).
ALL-TIME VS. OPPONENTS
Kent State is 23-54 all-time against Bowling Green. After splitting the season series in 2014 and 2015, the Falcons earned a season sweep a year ago and have won the last three meetings. Head coach Don Gromala is 2-8 against the Falcons with both victories coming at the M.A.C. Center.
The Golden Flashes are 19-59 all-time against Miami but have won two of the past three matchups. Last season, the RedHawks won 3-0 in Oxford and Kent State earned a thrilling 3-2 victory on Senior Night at the M.A.C. Center to snap Miami's school-record 20-match winning streak. Head coach Don Gromala is 4-7 against the RedHawks with five of the contests going five sets.
UP NEXT
Kent State hosts Ohio on Thursday, Oct. 5 at 7 p.m. and then goes back on the road to play at Central Michigan on Saturday, Oct. 7 at 7 p.m.
FOLLOW THE FLASHES
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