Kent State volleyball fell to Akron in the ?rst match of the PNC Wagon Wheel Challenge on Saturday.

The Flashes fell in three sets after breaking their six-match losing streak with a win against Buffalo on Friday.

“We really didn’t show up to compete tonight,” said Kent State coach Glen Conley in a phone interview. “It was disappointing.”

Kent State lost with a lack of effort, scoring only 15 points in the ?rst set and 13 in the second.

“It’s hard to say technically what did not work when the effort wasn?t there,” Conley said. “When effort is not there and you don?t come out and give everything you have, it?s very dif?cult to say that something is wrong because the very beginning was wrong.”

The team scored 24 kills with 25 errors. Akron took the match with 40 kills and 13 errors. This signi?cant difference showed a more intense team came out on top.

“We didn?t prepare well,” Conley said. “We didn?t show up to compete well.”

Freshmen outside hitter Tinuke Aderemi-Ibitola and middle back and outside hitter Lauren Engleman led the offensive effort with ?ve kills. Sophomore setter Aleksandra Nowak scored 18 set assists. Freshman outside hitter and defensive specialist Bridget Grdina led the defensive effort with nine digs.

“Our defense was really relaxed,” Conley said. “We didn?t step up and block anybody. We lost the battle at the net.”

Kent State faces an 8-13 overall record with a 1-5 Mid-American Conference record. Akron improved to a 4-15 record and reached a 1-5 MAC record as well.

The Zips took an early lead in the ?rst set and took advantage of eight Kent State errors, winning 25-15. The Flashes took the ?rst point of the ?rst set with a kill by junior middle back Kathy Krupa. Akron took this energy to dominate the second set, winning 25-13. Kent State never took the lead in the second match.

“We came out in slow motion and never caught up to the speed of the game until game three really,” Conley said. “Even in game three, we had control of our last set, and we gave that one away.”

Akron took a slight lead in the third set after scoring the ?rst two points with a service ace and kill. Kent State rallied back and kept the lead until the end of the set.

The teams tied eight times in the set. Akron took the win and demolished Kent State?s lead with four straight points from two attack errors and two kills.

“We had some wide open nets and didn?t take swings when we had the chance to take that set away,” Conley said. “Who knows what happens if you get that set? It was a disappointing game.”

Kent State didn?t carry its intensity from Friday night?s match into the match against Akron.

“That?s disappointing because we did some really nice things Friday night,” Conley said. “There was room to start to believe that we were going to turn a corner and make efforts.”

Kent State started off the weekend by winning its ?rst MAC match against Buffalo on Friday. The Flashes broke their six match losing streak with a ?ve-setter win. Senior outside hitter Maigan Larsen scored 15 kills, 11 digs and ?ve blocks to reach her seventh double-double of the season.

Kent State dropped the ?rst set 22-25 but rallied with two straight wins of 26-24 and 28-26. The Bulls took the fourth match 25-23. Kent State ?nished out the match with a 15-12 win in the ?nal set.

Contact Alexis Pfeifer [email protected].