Kent State University
1-0,1-0MAC
Central Michigan
1-2,1-2MAC
Kent State Begins Spring Volleyball Season with Impressive win at CMU
1/28/2021 8:46:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Kent State earned an impressive 3-0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-15) win against Mid-American Conference West Division favorite Central Michigan in the 2021 spring season opener at McGuirk Arena on Thursday evening.
Sophomore Taylor Heberle matcher her career-high with 20 kills while posting an efficient .438 hitting percentage to power the Golden Flashes' offense. Junior Melissa Kolurbasi added 10 kills and sophomore Savannah Matthews was right behind with nine. As a team, Kent State hit at a .295 clip. Redshirt junior Alex Haffner collected 38 assists and 10 digs for a double-double.
Junior Erin Gardner led a strong defensive effort that limited the Chippewas to a .148 hitting percentage. Matthews displayed her versatility with nine digs. Freshman Bryn Roberts and senior Kaeleigh Stang contributed seven digs apiece. The Flashes recorded seven blocks with junior Lana Strejcek contributing to four of them.
The teams split the first 32 points of the night, and the back-and-forth action included 11 ties and five lead changes. Danie Tyson's solo stuff evened it up and started a 6-1 run. Alex Haffner found a soft spot over the CMU blockers for a second-contact kill and a bad set forced the Chippewas to take timeout. The Flashes went wide on a swing on the ensuing point to make it 18-17. CMU was unable to take advantage of the side-out and served long to return momentum to Kent State. Each of the Flashes' next three swings went for kills, first by Melissa Kolurbasi and then consecutive points for Taylor Heberle, for their largest lead of the set. Savannah Matthews gave Kent State a 25-21 opening set victory with a kill a few points later.
Behind 12 kills from Heberle and Matthews, the Flashes posted a .406 hitting percentage and cruised to a 25-17 set two win. Matthews registered three of her four kills in the set as part of a six-point rally that gave Kent State a 9-3 lead. CMU took two of the next three points before the Flashes scored seven in a row, this time fueled by a trio of kills by Heberle, to take a commanding 17-5 lead. A late run allowed the Chippewas to get within 23-17, but a timeout allowed Kent State to regroup, and Heberle and Kolurbasi delivered big swings on the two points that followed to lead 2-0.
Kolurbasi added kills on the first two points in the third for a 2-0 lead that the Flashes would not relinquish. Host CMU stayed within a few points early and trailed 15-13 when Tyson found an open spot on the floor and then went on a seven-point serving run. Heberle got Kent State within a point of closing it out with her 20th kill of the night and followed with a tough serve that got the Chippewas out of system and resulted in a swing that grazed the antenna for a 25-15 Flashes victory.
Kent State will finish a two-match series against Central Michigan on Friday with first serve scheduled for 2 p.m.
