The Kent State volleyball team struggled in the opening week of conference play, losing both games in sweeps against Bowling Green and Toledo Thursday and Friday.
Despite the poor team performance, senior outside hitter Mackenzie McGuire entered the top ten for kills all-time in the NCAA.
“Mackenzie is so special,” coach Haley Eckerman said. “She continues to grow as a volleyball player and as a person off the court.”
Thursday against Toledo
To open up Mid-American Conference play, the Flashes took a trip up the turnpike and through I-75 to head to Savage Arena, where the Toledo Rockets awaited.
The match got off to a good start with a service ace from sophomore defensive specialist and outside hitter Hailey Brenner. A virtual stalemate set in, with neither team able to claim a large lead.
Even deep into the set, both teams went back and forth, tying for the 11th time in the match at 24-24. Toledo claimed the final two points of the set to win 26-24 in a whirlwind of a match.
Set two featured another back-and-forth start with both teams trading points. Toledo grabbed a lead midway through the set and never looked back to win the set 25-19.
Facing the dreaded sweep, KSU quickly fell behind 7-2 to begin the third set. Needing to rally quickly to avoid the match getting out of hand, the Flashes scored three straight points to give themselves a fighting chance.
Still, Toledo maintained a lead into the middle half of the set, where three straight Rocket errors allowed KSU to tie the set at 14-14.
A McGuire kill tied the match again at 15-15, but Toledo ran away with the match using a 10-2 run to win the set 25-17 and the match 3-0.
A low hitting percentage plagued the Flashes, as the team converted just a smidge over 10% of their attack attempts at a .105 hitting percentage.
The low hitting percentage also played a role in allowing Toledo to pull away from the last two sets.
“I think we started strong against Toledo, but when they responded and made changes, we didn’t do a great job at handling adversity and playing through adversity,” Eckerman said.
Friday against Bowling Green
After a tough loss to the Rockets, the Flashes looked to salvage the weekend against the preseason favorites, the Bowling Green Falcons.
The Flashes got off to a great start, jumping ahead 5-1 in set one. Kent State continued to hold that lead throughout the beginning portion of the set.
After BGSU tied it up three times, the team eventually claimed a 14-13 lead that the team wouldn’t relinquish the rest of the set. The back half of the set started to get out of hand before KSU rallied to make the score a respectable 25-22 final.
The second set was an utter domination from the Falcons. The Flashes committed more errors than kills and managed to scrape only six points before BGSU reached the 20-point mark. The Falcons eventually won the set 25-9.
The lone bright spot of the second set was a kill from McGuire that officially put her alone in the top ten for all-time kills.
Facing a clean sweep of the entire week, the Flashes tried to rally to at least reach a fourth set.
A service ace from sophomore defensive specialist and libero Lesley Furuta gave the Flashes a quick 5-0 run in the beginning stages of the set.
The Falcons then used a 5-0 run of their own to claim a 7-6 lead. This led to Bowling Green beginning to pull away and maintain a lead.
Towards the end of the set, KSU got within one point, but BGSU finished off the Flashes with a set win of 25-21 and 3-0 for the match.
After struggling to get offense going against Toledo, the Flashes hit an even lower hitting percentage with .075. Bowling Green’s defensive game plan worked wonders as the key point of KSU’s offense in McGuire had just six kills.
“I think Bowling Green did a great job of making us feel uncomfortable,” Eckerman said.
Notables
Redshirt sophomore middle blocker Adalynn Ginley showed a balanced game this week, having nine kills throughout the weekend, as well as adding blocks.
Freshman outside hitter Macie Moreland continued a nice start to her collegiate career. She had at least four kills in both matches and has become a solid piece in the rotation of players.
In their last five matches, the Flashes have not had a hitting percentage over .200, the highest being a .195 in a win against Youngstown State. The team has had two matches with a hitting percentage under .100.
“We are going to coordinate to work on our hitters’ toolbox to help them have better hitting decisions in the moments of adversity,” Eckerman said.
Up next
The Flashes will have their first home set of matches beginning Friday against Buffalo before playing Akron the next day.
“We are so excited to be back in the MACC this week,” she said. “We got to practice on the new court today, and it felt great to be home.”
Stone O’Bryant is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected].