The University of Akron Athletics
Volleyball Battles, Defeat Penguins 3-0
November 04 | Women's Volleyball
- The University of Akron (13-14) and Youngstown State (7-18)
battled Tuesday night but it was the Zips who proved dominant
capturing a 3-0 (29-27, 25-23, 25-20) win over the Penguins at the
Beeghly Center.
Both teams posted hitting percentages over .200 but it was Akron
who bettered the Penguins in attacks putting up a .258 to YSU's
.209 on the evening.
Seniors Brionna Patterson and Liz
Martin led the offensive rally putting up 29 kills between
them. Patterson posted 15 kills on 31 attempts for a .355 mark
while Martin added 14 kills to only two errors for a career-high
.480 hitting percentage.
In set one Youngstown State went up 16-13, which prompted an Akron
timeout. The Zips would come out of the break going on a 5-2 run to
tie the contest at 18-18. A Youngstown State kill put the Penguins
back on top, 19-18, but a follow-up YSU error and kill from
Patterson gave the Zips a 20-19 lead they would hold until YSU tied
it at 23 off another kill. With both teams fighting hard neither
would relinquish a two-point advantage to secure the win until,
tied at 27, an YSU attack error and kill from Martin gave UA the
29-27 victory.
In the second set both teams struggled attacking the ball but it
was Akron that once again proved victorious despite finding
themselves down 12-6 early on. The Zips wouldn't tie the contest
until the 18-18 mark off a kill from sophomore Tina
Dimitrijevs. YSU threatened to regain the advantage when the
Penguins tied it at 23-23 but yet another UA kill and YSU attack
error pushed the Zips to the 25-23 victory.
Heading into set three Akron took an early 8-4 lead but a
determined Penguin squad regained the 14-11 lead. Anther Akron
timeout would prove productive as the Zips came out of the break
going on a 8-5 run to tie the contest at 19-19. UA would regain
the lead off a kill from Patterson and close out the match on a 6-1
run for the 25-20 set and match victory.
In the win, freshman Chelsea Harvey led the Zips
defensively posting 18 digs in the backcourt.
Senior setter Kara Smith also played an
outstanding contest posting 41 assists, adding five digs, four
kills and one block assist.
The Zips will resume to conference play this weekend (Nov 6-7)
traveling to nearby Kent State and Ohio University. Both matches
are slated for 7:00 p.m.
