Kent State University
5-15,1-8MAC
Miami
5-15,1-7MAC
Flashes Battle RedHawks in Four-Setter
10/14/2023 7:30:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
KENT, Ohio – Kent State came up short in a back-and-forth Mid-American Conference volleyball match on Saturday as Miami left the M.A.C. Center with a 3-1 (21-25, 28-26, 19-25, 24-26) victory to split the weekend series.
After posting the highest hitting percentage of the season during Friday's victory, the Golden Flashes (5-15, 1-8 MAC) totaled 11 attack errors to just 10 kills in the opening set and hit at a .132 clip overall in the match.
Sophomore Mackenzie McGuire, sophomore Kendall White and freshman Lily King all had a double-double. McGuire led all players with 21 kills, her most against a conference opponent this season, and tallied 11 digs. White stuffed the stat sheet with 21 assists, 12 digs, eight kills and career-high five blocks. King finished with 18 assists and career-high 14 digs.
Freshman Logan Henderson added 12 kills and had a career-high four blocks.
Senior Bryn Roberts led all players with 26 digs. Graduate student Burgundy Walters totaled six blocks to match her career-high.
How it Happened…
Set 1 (21-25): Brooke Rifkin opened the match with an ace, but Miami scored the next three points but neither team was able to lead by more than two points as Kent State went ahead 15-14 at the media timeout on a kill by Kendall White. The RedHawks then used a trio of three-point runs for a 9-3 run to lead by five. The Golden Flashes won three of the next four points before an attack error ended the comeback effort.
Set 2 (28-26): Kent State led by as many as nine points, but Miami fought back to go ahead 24-21. Back-to-back attack errors by the guests and a kill by Mackenzie McGuire evened it at 24-24. McGuire posted kills to tie it again at 25-25 and 26-26. Logan Henderson and Burgundy Walters then teamed for a block and 27-26 lead, and then McGuire came through with her seventh kill of the set to make it 1-1.
Set 3 (19-25): Miami opened with an 8-1 lead. Kent State scored the next five to get within two points, but the RedHawks answered with four straight points. The Flashes cut their deficit to fewer than five points just once the rest of the way.
Set 4 (24-26): After trailing by three early, Kent State stormed back and took a 24-20 lead on Henderson's sixth kill of the set. Miami won the next six points to prevent the match from going to a fifth set.
Up Next for the Flashes
Kent State will play on the road the next two weekends, beginning with a pair of matches at Bowling Green on Oct. 20 and Oct. 21.
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