The Kent State Volleyball team traveled to sunny Boca Raton to open the 2025 season at the Florida Atlantic Invitational on Friday and Saturday.

Texas Tech and Western Carolina were the other two teams that joined the Owls and Flashes at the event.

Despite going 0-3 on the weekend, there were still some positives to take as head coach Haley Eckerman praised the team and “their fight.”

“Even though it shows 0-3 on our record, we did some really good things this weekend, and when you’re looking at the individual scores of each match, each match was a fight,” Eckerman said. “I told the girls afterward that I wanted them to hold their heads high.”

Friday game 1 against Florida Atlantic 

The Flashes and Owls opened up their seasons against each other to kick off their respective tournaments.

The first set was very competitive, with the Flashes falling down multiple times before clawing back. There were eight ties and six lead changes before the Owls took the set 26-24.

The second set was a different story, with FAU dominating the set, winning 25-17 and going on multiple runs to take the set. That included an 8-1 run to close out the set after the Flashes clawed to within one. 

Errors plagued the Flashes, with five of the eight points FAU scored to end the set coming on errors from KSU players.  

Set three saw a return to the competitive theme with both teams trading points back and forth. 

The Flashes took a 13-11 lead before falling victim to a 5-1 stretch that forced them to take a timeout. After the time out, KSU used a 4-1 run to square things at 17-17.

After trading points to a 19-19 stalemate, Florida Atlantic would take control of the match with a 6-1 run to win the match in a clean sweep 3-0 (26-25, 25-17, 25-20).

Mackenzie McGuire would lead all players with 17 Kills and 18.5 points.

Friday game 2 against Western Carolina

After a brief break, the Flashes would wrap up the day with a matchup against the Catamounts of Western Carolina, who came off a five-set win against Texas Tech to open the weekend of competition.

After a back-and-forth start to the set, Western Carolina would pull away and go up 20-10. Western Carolina was a point away from winning before KSU made things interesting with a 5-0 run to make the Catamounts sweat before pulling off the first set 25-22.

The second set would play out in a similar way, with WCU going on an 8-2 run after being tied 14-14 and winning the set 25-19.

Set three would be the most competitive set in the match, with neither team going away without a fight. In a set that would feature 10 ties and four lead changes, the Flashes would prevail 27-25 to claim their first set win of the season.

KSU jumped out to a 4-0 lead in set 4 before the Catamounts fought back to tie it. After Western Carolina took the lead, the Flashes came back to retake the lead before WCU set 25-23 and the match 3-1.

Senior libero Greta Bolognini led the team with 10 digs on the match, and sophomore defensive specialist and outside hitter Hailey Brenner had four service aces.

Saturday against Texas Tech

The Flashes saved the best for last despite losing the third and final matchup, playing a very competitive four sets against a power opponent in the Red Raiders, in a matchup where they had the chance to fly the flag and beat a power opponent.

After an early 5-1 run put Texas Tech ahead early, KSU fought back to tie the set at nine all before playing a mostly competitive set back and forth the rest of the way, except for another 5-1 Tech run.

In what would be a common theme this weekend, the Flashes wouldn’t back down without a fight, fighting to within one point before falling in set one 25-23.

KSU wouldn’t let the first set loss define the day, jumping out to a quick 3-0 lead in set two that included two kills from McGuire. The overall set would be even more competitive with the teams routinely trading points and neither team going on any runs.

That was until a 6-1 Red Raider run caused by multiple attack errors allowed Texas Tech to pull into the driver’s seat. The Flashes clawed back within two points before falling in set two, 25-22. 

On the verge of being swept to end the weekend, the Flashes would fall behind 10-4 thanks to a 9-2 run before fighting back to even the set 13-13 on a service ace from sophomore libero Hailey Brenner.

After that, KSU would play in front for the rest of the set, going back and forth but scoring just enough to pull away and claim the third set 25-23.

Set four was a competitive back-and-forth set with neither team building a large lead or going on any major runs. Still, Texas Tech would pull away at the end to claim the set 25-22 and claim the match 3-1.

Despite the loss, Eckerman had a lot of praise for the match.

“We showed a lot of resilience,” Eckerman said. “In the past, this group would have given up after the first set.” 

Standouts

McGuire shone all weekend in being named to the tournament team, but she especially shone Saturday, leading with 26 kills against the Red Raiders to kick off the final season of what’s been a storied career at Kent. Her overall efforts received praise not only from Eckerman but other coaches.

“Talking with other coaches that we were playing this weekend, they were really impressed by her and her resilience,” Eckerman said.

McGuire should reach the 1000 kill and 500 dig milestones in the coming weeks, for which Eckerman said she’d be honored at a home match in October.

Freshman Libero Catie Patterson appeared in every set this weekend in her first official action as a collegiate volleyball player. She had a high of six digs against Texas Tech.

“I think she did a good job at just not being too high or low on energy and coming in and doing her job,” Eckerman said.

The offense ran through transfer junior setter Christina Vigil, who got her first taste of Division one action after playing JUCO the past two years. On the weekend, she had 117 assists, including 48 against Texas Tech. 

Up next

Next weekend, the Flashes will travel to Maryland to participate in the Towson-Morgan State invite. The first matchup will be Friday against New Orleans before playing two matchups Saturday to wrap up the weekend, including a matchup against Towson, which finished last season highly ranked in the volleyball RPI rankings.

“Towson will be a fun challenge,” Eckerman said. “They’re normally ranked in the top 50, so we’re gonna treat them like a power five opponent.” 

Stone O’Bryant is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected].