Kent State volleyball is coming home, hoping to bounce back after a tough tournament in Louisville, Kentucky, this past weekend.

Kent State (1-5) will host the Golden Flashes Classic, which will be featured on ESPN3 for the first time.

The Flashes will start the weekend facing Butler at 6 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 8.

The Bulldogs, coming back from a 2-1 weekend in Ann Arbor, Michigan, are 5-2 overall.

Kent State will then face College of Charleston (6-2) at noon Sunday. The Flashes are going into this weekend strong, hoping to come out victorious after an 0-3 weekend in Louisville.

“We played some really strong teams. All the teams that we faced were all around top 50 programs,” coach Don Gromala said. “We played some really physical teams just in size they were a little bit bigger than us.”

Gromala added the team had a great match against Illinois.

“We held them to their lowest hitting percentage and we scored the most points of any team there against them,” Gromala said.

Kent State showed desire facing Illinois, when they fought to come back from being down by 8 and only losing by 3 in the end.

Gromala said the team has been making sure to maintain a high level of energy and focus during practices, hoping to mirror that this weekend.

He added that defensively, Kent State needs to simplify its game as much as possible, and focus on serving well and making good blocks.

Offensively, Gromala stressed the setters need to work to find good openings in the opposing team’s defense.

Butler could present the biggest challenge this weekend.

“Butler has been picked to be second place in the Big East,” Gromala said. “They’ve got some bigger players as well, but I don’t know if they’re as dynamic, maybe, as the players we faced this past weekend.”

Taylor Sforzo is a sports reporter. Contact her at [email protected].