Kent State’s volleyball team continued its winning streak this weekend after defeating Mid-American Conference (MAC) Conference opponents Ohio University and Eastern Michigan University.

The Flashes, who have won 10 of their last 11 games, beat Ohio University 3-1 in Athens on Thursday night before hosting Eastern Michigan University Saturday and winning by a final score of 3-1. Kent State improved to 17-9 the year and moved to 11-3 in the MAC Conference, tying Ohio University for first place.

On Thursday night, Kent State traveled to Athens to take on Ohio University. The Flashes didn’t let a loss in straight sets against the Bobcats on Oct. 1 stop them, as head coach Don Gromala’s team emerged victorious after four sets.

However, it wasn’t all smooth sailing.

Early in the game, Kent State was on the wrong side of a 25-13 first set loss. With the possibility of another sweep looming, the Flashes 25-13 before ending the game 25-20 in the fourth set to win the match. 

Senior Kelly Hutchison recorded a match-high of 15 kills and sophomore Kelsey Bittinger added 13.

Senior Sarah Mills and sophomores Challen Geraghty and Bittinger  all notched double-digit digs. 

After Thursday night’s victory, the Kent State returned home to host Eastern Michigan at the M.A.C. Center Saturday night.

The Flashes started quickly against the Eagles, outscoring the team by 14 points en route to a 25-11 first set victory. Eastern Michigan wasted no time bringing the game back to even as the Eagles posted a 25-19 score to win the second set.

Kent State bounced back in the third set to record 18 team kills and win (25-18) before taking the fourth set (25-20).

Bittinger finished tied for the match-high in kills with 15 and Bittinger and senior Bridget Wilhelm recorded double-digit kills.

Junior Katarina Kojic logged 55 assists and three aces during Saturday night’s win.

In addition to the Flashes’ weekend victories, Bittinger received Academic All-District First Team honors for District V earlier in the week from the College Sports Information Directors of America.

Kent will host the University of Akron on Friday night and the University at Buffalo on Saturday before heading into the MAC tournament at season’s end.

Jesse Runner is a sports reporter for The Kent Stater. Contact him at [email protected].