Kent State University
2-5
Eastern Kentucky University
4-4
Kent State Rallies for 3-2 Victory Over Eastern Kentucky
9/13/2013 10:32:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
HUNTINGTON, W. Va. – The Kent State volleyball dropped the opening two sets and came back for a 3-2 victory over Eastern Kentucky (21-25, 25-27, 25-20, 25-14, 15-8) Friday night in its first match of the Thunder Invitational at the Cam Henderson Center on the campus of Marshall University.
Senior Aleksandra Nowak tallied 48 assists to take sole possession of fourth on Kent State's career assists list and now stands at 2,484 for her career. She entered the match tied with Katie Veatch (2006-09).
"Our girls made some plays to win that close third set, and that kind of opened the flood gates," said head coach Don Gromala.
For the second straight match, Kent State (2-5) had four players record double-digit kills. Sophomore Kelly Hutchison led the way with 13 kills, freshman Bianca Cifaldi had 12, and junior Liz Reikow and sophomore Bridget Wilhelm added 10 each.
The Golden Flashes lost the opening two sets as Eastern Kentucky's offense was hitting on all cylinders.
"We started a little flat like every tournament this season," Gromala said. "Eastern Kentucky ran a unique offense and it took us a while to adjust. But once we made those adjustments, our girls started making plays on defense."
The Golden Flashes held an 87-66 advantage in digs. Senior libero Hannah Herc anchored the defense with 31 digs and Nowak added 13. Reikow totaled six blocks as the Flashes had nine as a team.
After tying the match at two sets apiece, Kent State seized the momentum and opened the fifth set by taking the first six points. The Flashes' attack was unstoppable, hitting .625 for the set. Hutchison posted five kills in the final set.
Kent State returns to action early Saturday morning with a 10:30 a.m. match against Southern Illinois. The Golden Flashes are then scheduled to conclude the weekend against host Marshall at 7:30 p.m.
