Kent State’s volleyball team quickly ran into adversity as they opened up the MAC competition over the weekend.

The Flashes were swept on their home floor by Miami University, losing in straight sets Friday evening. 

In the loss, senior Ashley Maruski had tallied 14 kills. Sophomore Erin Garnder had 28 digs.

Despite the loss, the Flashes were able to keep things interesting against the RedHawks. Kent lost the first set 25-23 before dropping the second set 26-24. Miami was able to pull away in the third set and beat the Flashes 25-18.

“Miami is a team that is very disciplined with what they do,” coach Don Gromala said. 

Gromala said he felt as if his team executed the game plan well throughout the match, but a few points changed the game, and his team ran out of gas at the end. He felt as if his team could’ve pulled out the third set, they would have had a different outcome. 

Saturday didn’t get any better for the Flashes as they faced Bowling Green State University. They were swept in straight sets for the second time in two days. 

The match against Bowling Green brought forth a familiar trend for Kent. They fought hard and kept the score close just to fall short.

Kent lost the first two sets 25-21 respectively. They fought back in the third set, but fell short, losing 26-24.

Gromala said Bowling Green was able to execute some different things offensively that put his defense on their heels. The Falcons had 49 kills with four blocks opposed to Kent’s 45 kills and two blocks.

“I think we played two really strong teams,” he said after the matches.

The Flashes face Ohio University at the MAC Center on Thursday night in the “Dig for the Cure” match. After facing the Bobcats, the Flashes will travel to Michigan to battle Central Michigan on the road.

“We know where we need to get better,” Gromala said after the loss to Bowling Green. “Our offensive play was great tonight, we just need to get better with our blocks and our defense.”

Contact Nick Pedone at [email protected].