Kent State’s (5-17) volleyball team dropped both its away matchups against Bowling Green (11-11) Oct. 20 and 21. 

KSU’s losing streak is now three-games long, and the team has one win since Mid-American Conference play began on Sept. 22.

After splitting the weekend matchup, the Flashes fell to 1-10 in the MAC, sitting in fifth place in the MAC East. The Falcons are tied for third with Akron (10-12) in the East with a 5-6 conference record.

In Friday’s game, BGSU got an early 6-3 lead against KSU. The Flashes brought it back midway through the first set, with the score then 14-10 in Bowling Green’s favor. 

The Falcons then went on a 7-0 run, making the score 21-10. 

KSU would gain five points back, bringing its point total up to 15. These were the last points Kent State would score in the first set, and Bowling Green took the first set 25-15. 

The second set started with the Falcons taking a 9-2 lead immediately. KSU struggled to find its footing in the second set, and BGSU was up big with a 19-6 lead. 

Kent State got five points back towards the end of the set, but it wasn’t enough to slow down Bowling Green. The Falcons took the second set, winning 25-11. 

Both teams were close early in set three, with the Falcons leading 8-7. Unfortunately, the Falcons went on a 13-2 run, making the score 21-9. 

BGSU closed out the game on a 4-2 run, winning the third set 25-11 and sweeping KSU in three sets. 

Saturday

Going into the weekend’s second game, both teams started with a 3-3 tie. 

The Falcons went on a run of their own, bringing the score up to 8-4. The Flashes then went on a run themselves, making the score 9-8 in BGSU’s favor. 

Both teams tied up the game at 12-12 and went back and forth until tying again at 15-15. 

Kent State would only score two more points in this set, and Bowling Green walked away with a win in the first set with a score of 25-17. 

In set two, the Flashes took an early 7-6 lead. Both teams remained close and traded points back and forth as both teams were tied 11-11. 

The Falcons would then take off, going on a 9-4 run and took a decent lead at 20-15. Kent State fell short, scoring only one more point in the second set, and Bowling Green won 25-16. 

In the third and final set, both teams were tied early again at 4-4. 

Again, BGSU would take off and go on an 11-2 run to make the score 15-6 in the Falcons’ favor. 

The Flashes could not slow down Bowling Green, as Kent State scored only five more points in the final set, losing 25-11.

Bowling Green swept the match on sets 3-0 and would walk away with back-to-back wins against Kent State. 

Looking back 

Kent State sits at 5-17 on the season and has recorded one MAC-game win. 

Coach Haley Eckerman said inconsistent lineups have been the reason for the lack of success this season. 

“We’ve had injuries since our preseason exhibition match, and every game has been a different lineup,” she said. “The biggest thing is just handling that adversity piece of it and being able to still try to push through.” 

Sophomore outside hitter Mackenzie McGuire leads the team with 271 kills. Redshirt senior middle blocker Kiana Mack has recorded the second-most kills with 122. Graduate student middle blocker Burgundy Walters is first in blocks for the Flashes with 59.

Building off this season is the key for next year, Eckerman said.

“Continuing to build as a program and even though this is year two for me,” she said. “It still feels like it’s year one, as far as the rebuilding process goes.”

Up Next

The Flashes will remain on the road, taking on Ball State (12-10, 9-2) Friday at 6 p.m. and Toledo (10-12, 8-3) Saturday at 4 p.m.

KSU has lost the last three matchups with the Cardinals, and they are 8-10 all-time. Over the last four matches with the Rockets, the Flashes have a record of 0-4. 

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