In its final two games of a tough, seemingly never-ending season, the Kent State volleyball team said goodbye to a quintet of players and prepared for the offseason following a pair of losses to the Toledo Rockets.
Friday, the Flashes welcomed the Rockets into the M.A.C. Center for the first of a two-game weekend slate. Heading into the Mid-American Conference bout with Kent State, Toledo held a record of 15-13 (8-8 conference record) and had lost its last five games.
Although the Flashes had not had the season the team and coach Haley Eckerman were hoping for, KSU had an opportunity to ensnare the Rockets in a “trap game,” or a scenario where a team with a winning record, aiming to clinch a postseason berth, goes on the road to take on a team with a less W’s in the win column.
The Flashes battled the Rockets in the beginning action of set one, trading points back and forth and even going on a 7-1 run down 13-11 to give KSU a 18-14 lead in the middle of the first set. Toledo would then stage a gutsy comeback that saw the Rockets claim seven of the game’s last eight points in a 25-23 opening set victory.
Set two froze the Flashes in its tracks, as Toledo would open the set outscoring KSU 2-1. Toledo gaining ground to the tune of a 10-5 opening proved to be too much for the Flashes, as they would lose set two 25-17.
In the third and final set of the Flashes’ second to last game of the season, KSU would once again show its bravery in defeat. KSU was able to move the ball around and score, but late game situations have been the Flashes’ Achilles heel all year, and that rang eerily true against Toledo when the Rockets embarked on a 9-6 run after both teams were tied at 16 in a 25-22 KSU loss.
Junior outside hitter Mackenzie McGuire led the Flashes in kills Friday with nine. In the same game, junior setter Kendall White posted a double-double with 24 assists and 16 digs.
Saturday marked the 28th and final game for the Flashes, as the team was mathematically eliminated from MAC tournament play. Kent State also celebrated Senior Night, as outside hitters Karina Salinas and Breanna Burrell, right sider Anna Shoemake, libero Tylee Fuller and setter Chelsea Harvey would play their last game of collegiate volleyball.
The emotion of seeing teammates play their last game would propel the Flashes to claim a set victory in its last game, but the team would have to wait after it lost set one of the second game 25-10. The Rockets would score 20 points before the Flashes could get more than 5 as Toledo dominated all of the first set.
In Kent State’s final volleyball set win of the season, the Flashes were carried by familiar faces, as McGuire claimed the kills and Salinas served in an impressive 25-16 second set triumph. This was KSU’s first set win since it beat Akron Nov. 2, and it would be the last of the 2024 season.
Contention was the theme of set three, as it really could have gone to either team. Tied at 18, the Rockets would go on a gargantuan 7-1 run that put Toledo up 2-1 in Saturday’s game in a 25-19 set three win.
Set four saw the Flashes campaign come to an end, and the Flashes would go quietly. The Rockets would score 20 before the Flashes could crack double digits for the second time in Saturday’s match. Toledo would fly itself to a victory off the back of a 25-12 fourth set victory.
McGuire, in what was a remarkable season-long trend, once again led her team in kills Saturday with 10. White also continued her trend of double-doubles, as she posted 26 assists and 11 digs in game No. 28.
McGuire led the Flashes in kills in 2024 with 261. White led the Flashes in assists with 642 — junior libero Greta Bolognini claimed the most digs with 270
Redshirt sophomore Liliana Mechura led in blocks with 70, and senior libero Tylee Fuller led with 25 service aces.
Moving Forward
The Flashes finished with a 2-28 record and did not make the MAC tournament, but have many pieces and parts to look forward to. McGuire, White and Bolognini are all set to return and have underclassmen such as sophomore outside hitter Logan Henderson and freshman outside hitter Avrey Rigney that could make some noise come 2025.
All and all, the MAC is a very fickle conference. Teams that struggle one year can rebound the next and clinch a tournament bid — Central Michigan was on the outside looking in during 2023 but is set for postseason activity this fall.
Gage Wellman is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected] or @GageWellmanKSTV on X.
