Kent State’s volleyball team played against Akron (9-7) last week, with both games being played at Akron. 

The Flashes fell to 4-12 overall, and their 0-5 Mid-American Conference record is last in the East Division. 

The Zips improved to 8-7 on the season and sit in second place in the East Division at 3-1. 

Game One

Both teams started the first set trading points, leading to a 7-7 tie. They would go back and forth for a few points until UA went on a nine-point swing, making the score 19-10. 

KSU would remain close and gain momentum to bring the score to 21-15. 

Akron would continue and would win the first set 25-18. 

In the second set, the teams were square, with both teams equal at 5-5 early in the match. 

Each time the Flashes would start to make up some ground or go ahead, the Zips were always close behind. 

The teams remained close together; both teams were fighting to earn points and take the lead. 

The last time both teams were tied in the set was 13-13, but both teams remained within three points of each other until the Zips went on a three-point swing to make the score 22-18. 

KSU would score two more points in the set and would go on to lose 25-20. 

Sophomore outside hitter Mackenzie McGuire had another impressive display on Thursday, tallying 16 kills throughout the match, with five coming in the second set. Even behind McGuire’s impressive performance, the team could not capitalize against UA. 

In the third set on Thursday, the Flashes started with a 5-0 run. 

As Akron continued with their slow start, Kent pushed on and went on another big run, making the score 12-4 for the Flashes. 

Both teams would go back and forth with small scoring runs, with at one point KSU had the lead up to 17-11, with the momentum in their favor. 

UA would bounce back from their deficit and would go on a 7-1 run, making the score at this stage 18-18.
To close out the rest of the set, Kent would score three straight points, giving them the advantage, but Akron was not far behind. 

The game would continue into a back-and-forth battle; the teams were tied 24-24. 

Both teams would again go back and forth, fighting to take the two-point lead and to win the set. 

As KSU had the lead at 27-26, the Zips decided to go on a three-point run. Akron would win the set 29-27 and sweep on sets in the match to win 3-0. 

Game Two

Kent would start with a 2-0 lead in set one to get the match underway. 

Right after, Akron would go on a four-point run of their own to take a two-point lead. 

Both teams started off with big runs of their own. KSU would go on a five-point run to take the lead at 8-6. After this run, the following seven straight points went to the Zips, and they took the lead 13-8. 

The game remained balanced and up for grabs from both sides. 

As Akron continued to go on small scoring runs, it was deemed too much for the Flashes, and UA would take the first set 25-16. 

The second set was roughly the same start as the first, with both teams getting off to a slow start and the game being relatively close early on. 

As Akron went on a five-point run to make the score 12-9, Kent fought back themselves and tied the game 13-13. 

After this, both teams continued back and forth, and neither team could gain a large separation from the other. 

Both teams were tied 18-18 until the Zips would go on a 7-1 run to close the set and win 25-19. 

In the third and final set, Akron would continue with their momentum and get a 9-5 lead. Unfortunately, UA would hold the lead and remain on top throughout the remainder of the set. 

The Flashes could not string a big run of points together, while Akron could rapidly score and not slow down. 

The final score of the third set was 25-19 in favor of the Zips, sweeping KSU in back-to-back days. 

In the last three matches between Akron and Kent, Akron has won nine straight sets, while the Flashes have not won a set in the previous three. 

Ethan Madden is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected].