Kent State University
12-11,5-6MAC
Bowling Green
13-10,7-4MAC
Gromala Records Victory No. 100 as Flashes Beat Falcons
11/1/2019 9:07:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – Head coach Don Gromala earned his 100th career victory as Kent State controlled play much of the night in taking down Bowling Green, 3-1 (25-23, 25-17, 23-25, 25-22). The Golden Flashes have won two of the first three as part of a five-match road swing to begin the second half of the Mid-American Conference schedule and have been victorious four of five matches overall.
The milestone victory was also a big one for the program, as Kent State (12-11, 5-6 MAC) had never won inside of the Stroh Center, which opened its doors in 2011, and had dropped its past eight meetings with the Falcons.
"It's tough to win on road in this conference, especially at the Stroh Center, and I'm really proud of the team's effort and how we executed," said Gromala, who is just the second coach in program history to reach the 100-victory milestone. "The first set was a battle, and winning it was huge for our confidence. That carried over into the second set and really put pressure on BG going into the third. Hopefully we can come out focused and disciplined in order to execute at a high level again for another big match tomorrow."
Redshirt sophomore Alex Haffner continued to put hitters in good positions to the put the ball away, as the Flashes posted at least 15 kills in every set and a .285 team hitting percentage. Haffner matched her season-high with 58 assists while adding six kills and eight digs.
Kent State's balanced attack featured five players with nine or more kills. Senior Ashley Makruski led the way with 18 kills, which is one off her career-high set on Saturday at Western Michigan. Freshman Savannah Matthews recorded her eighth double-double with 14 kills and 11 digs, while classmate Morgan Copley added 10 kills. Senior Myla King and sophomore Danie Tyson contributed nine kills apiece while combining to hit at a .444 clip and open scoring opportunities at the pins.
Sophomore Erin Gardner led the defense with 23 digs. The Flashes also received strong back row efforts from junior Kaleigh Stang and freshman Gracey Jarecke. Stang tallied a season-best 20 digs and Jarecke had a career-high 11 digs for the second match in a row.
Myla King also had a strong match at the end on the defensive side. King totaled five blocks, which included a career-best three solo stuffs.
Kent State will look to make it three straight wins as it visits Miami Saturday for a 5 p.m. contest at Millett Hall.
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