Kent State University
9-12 (2-5MAC)
Toledo
7-11 (2-5MAC)
Flashes Hold Off Toledo Rally for First Road Victory
10/13/2018 1:13:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
TOLEDO, Ohio – Kent State held off a furious fourth-set run from host Toledo to earn a 3-1 (25-22, 23-25, 25-19, 26-24) victory Friday evening inside of Savage Arena.
The Golden Flashes (9-12, 2-5 MAC) had a nine-point lead late in the fourth set erased by their hosts and actually faced a set point for the Rockets. However, freshman Melissa Kolurbasi delivered crucial kills on consecutive points to put Kent State back in the lead. Freshman Erin Gardner followed with an ace to seal the victory.
Kent State used a team effort to collect their first true road win of the season to move into a tie for eighth in the Mid-American Conference standings with one match remaining in the first half of the conference schedule. Four players posted double-figure kills and five tallied double-figure digs.
"It's exciting to breakthrough and get our first road win of the year," said head coach Don Gromala. "More importantly, we played some of the best volleyball that we have all season with how we were making smart decisions and working together as a unit. Offensively, we had a good balance with four people with double-digit kills. Alex did a good job of knowing when to set our middles, and our pins were really solid, which is a huge part of our success."
Seniors Amy Kober and Lexi Mantas paced the attack with 14 kills each. Melissa Kolurbasi was right behind, matching her career-high with 13 kills. Freshman Danie Tyson had 12 kills, and junior Myla King added eight to help the Flashes to a decisive 64-47 advantage in kills.
Redshirt freshman Alex Haffner recorded her ninth double-double of the season with 51 assists and 11 digs.
The floor defense was led by Erin Gardner, who collected a match-high 29 digs. Senior Sam Jones matched her season-high with 19 digs. Mantas and sophomore Kaeleigh Stang added 12 and 10 digs, respectively.
Kent State concludes the first half of the conference season on Saturday at Ball State. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the match will be streamed on ESPN3.
Be sure to follow Kent State Volleyball on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for news and updates about the squad.
