Volleyball drops match to Bowling Green

Jimmy Miller

Box Score

After picking up a pair of Mid-American Conference victories last weekend, Kent State dropped its third conference game of the season to host, Bowling Green State University.

The Falcons (4-13, 1-4 MAC) swept the Flashes (10-8, 2-3 MAC) as the Kent State offense struggled to get the offense going.

Coach Don Gromala said an inability to score cost the Flashes the match.

“It all comes from our end,” Gromala said. “We were just not putting the ball on the court or we were hitting right into the block.”

The Falcons edged the Flashes late in the first set, taking over after an 18-18 tie. A kill from Bowling Green’s Nicole Slimko put Bowling Green up for good in the set, as it concluded, 25-18, without another Kent State point.

“There were digs we should have made, but more of it comes from the offensive end,” Gromala said.

The remainder of the match finished in similar fashion, as Kent State couldn’t grab a single lead in the second set and a 5-2 lead early in the third.

Senior outside hitter Lauren Engleman paved the way for Kent State with eight kills, but the offense overall racked up 32 kills on 22 errors.

“We’re not going to win matches with that kind of ratio,” Gromala said.

The Flashes return to the court Saturday at Miami University in Oxford. The 9-7 Redhawks pit two dominant middles, Jenny Ingle and Paige Hill, against the Flashes’ junior middle blocker Wilhelm and senior middle blocker Liz Reikow, the reigning defensive and offense players of the week in the MAC East.

“We’ve got to play better on all accounts,” Gromala said. “I think our serving was okay, our passing was okay, but if you don’t have any offense, you’re not going to win.”

Contact Jimmy Miller at [email protected].