YPSILANTI, Mich. -- The Kent State volleyball team suffered a 3-0 (20-25, 19-25, 19-25) sweep at the hands of Eastern Michigan today (Sept. 25) in a Mid-American Conference interdivision match at the Convocation Center.

Junior Liva Brivule (Riga, Latvia) led the Golden Flashes (7-10, 0-2) with 12 kills and recorded a double-double with 11 digs. Freshman Aleksandra Nowak (Damnica, Poland) posted a team-high 27 set assists. Senior Kristen Barr (Bowling Green, Ohio) tallied 13 digs, and sophomore Kathy Krupa (Burbank, Ill.) posted three total blocks to lead the KSU defensive effort.

The first set began as a back-and-forth affair between the two squads, as three kills by junior Maigan Larsen (Lancaster, Wis), two by Brivule and a service ace by sophomore Meredith Paskert (Brecksville, Ohio) helped keep the score even at 12-all. The Eagles (14-3, 2-0) posted four straight points to take a 16-12 advantage, but the Flashes shaved EMU's lead to three three times -- once at 17-14 with a double block by Nowak and Krupa, again at 20-17 with a kill by Paskert and once more at 21-18 on a service error by Eastern Michigan. That's as close as KSU got, though, as Eastern Michigan went up 1-0 by closing the set on a 4-2 run.

The second set opened in a similar fashion as the first, with kills by senior Lauren Jones (Kentwood, Mich.) and Brivule and a service ace by Paskert helping to tie the score at four-all. The teams continued to trade punches, but Eastern Michigan then turned an 8-7 edge into a 14-8 advantage. KSU climbed back to within three at 15-12 with a 4-1 run courtesy of kills by Brivule and Jones and two EMU attack errors. The Eagles countered with a 9-3 run to go up 24-15, but kills by Brivule and Paskert and two bad sets by the EMU helped close the gap to five points at 24-19 and forced Eastern Michigan to call timeout. The Eagles then ended KSU's comeback hopes with a kill to take a 2-0 match advantage.

Two kills by Brivule and one apiece by Paskert and Larsen helped knot the third set at seven-all, but Eastern Michigan tallied four points in a row to take the lead. Jones posted two kills and Brivule and freshman Zane Malasevska (Riga, Latvia) each added one to pull the Golden Flashes to within 14-12, but the Eagles rallied with an 8-2 run to go up 22-14. Two kills by Jones and another by Paskert helped close EMU's advantage to four at 23-19. Eastern Michigan stopped the bleeding with two kills, though, and won the match.

The Golden Flashes look to get back on track next weekend when they continue conference play by hosting Buffalo Friday (Oct. 1) and Akron Saturday (Oct. 2) at the M.A.C. Center. Both matches are schedules to begin at 7 p.m.