The Kent State volleyball team (8-12, 1-5 Mid-American Conference) road struggles continued this weekend, as it dropped matches to conference foes Bowling Green (10-8, 4-1 MAC)  and Miami (13-5, 5-1 MAC) in straight sets this weekend.

Bowling Green 3, Kent State 0

Bowling Green controlled almost all facets of the game as it won in straight sets.

The first set was close at the beginning as Bowling Green was only up 11-10, before the Falcons scored five points in a row to expand its lead to six. Bowling Green pulled away to win it 25-14.

Kent State jumped out to an 8-5 lead, then the Falcons scored five in a row to take a two point lead, 10-8. Bowling Green dominated the rest of it and won it, 25-15.

Redshirt Freshman libero Alex Haffner led the team with 23 assists, but the Flashes only recorded 27 kills. The Flashes struggled mightily offensively as it had 22 attack errors.

Kent State started off the third set hot as it scored the first four points. The Falcons fought back to take a 9-7 lead. The Flashes mounted a late comeback after Bowling Green took a 23-14 lead, but it wasn’t enough as it lost by five, 25-20.

Miami (OH) 3, Kent State 0

Miami came out hot and led the entire first set as it won it, 25-18.

The RedHawks kicked off the second set up 6-2 and maintained the lead the rest of the way to close it out, 25-21.

Kent State played better in the third set, as it was closer than the other ones for the majority of it. Miami took a 10-9 lead before it pulled away, 25-21, to take the match.

“We just have to do a better job of slowing our opponents down so we don’t have to catch up so often,” coach Don Gromala said.

Haffner led the match with 31 assists. Freshman defensive specialist Erin Gardner led both teams in digs with 14 and Senior libero Sam Jones tallied 13. The Flashes have been experimenting with a slew of different lineups recently in an attempt to find their best one.

The Flashes will stay on the road next week as they will travel to Toledo on Friday for a 7 p.m. start, followed by Ball State on Saturday. 

Sean Blevins is a sports reporter. Contact him at [email protected].