The Kent State volleyball team improved its record to 10-9 and 4-2 in the Mid-American Conference with a win against Central Michigan in three sets (25-23, 27-25, 25-21) Saturday night.

The Flashes entered the game coming off their biggest win of the season against the nationally ranked Ohio University Bobcats in four sets Thursday night and continued their momentum Saturday with their third-straight victory.

With the victory, the Flashes have now won nine of their last 10 sets and find themselves in third place in the MAC East, behind Ohio University and Bowling Green State University.

After struggling early in the match with a .024 hitting percentage in the first set, the Flashes stepped up the attack by hitting .270 percent in the final two sets.

“We didn’t play great tonight, but we played well enough to win, and that’s what’s important,” said head coach Don Gromala. “We played steady at those critical moments that we’ve talked about and made them make the mistakes at the critical points.”

Senior Hannah Herc, who had 12 digs against the Chippewas, and sophomore Sarah Mills, who had 11, anchored the Flashes’ defense for the night. The Flashes’ offense was bolstered by senior Aleksandra Nowak, who led Kent State with 31 assists and four kills.

Sophomore Kelly Hutchison recorded a solid all-around game with 11 kills, five digs and four blocks. Hutchison’s block late in the second set helped the Flashes pull off a close victory in that set.

The Flashes will look to continue the momentum when they face Ball State University and the University of Toledo in a series of conference meets next weekend. Kent State will take on the Cardinals on Friday and the Rockets, respectively on Saturday, both games starting at 7 p.m.

Contact Kent Hushion at [email protected].