Akron Falls in Opening Day Matches at Homewood Suites Classic

Friday, August 30

Fort Myers, FL

10:30 AM

University of Akron

0-1

San Diego State

1-0

Akron

San Diego St.

Akron Falls in Opening Day Matches at Homewood Suites Classic

August 30 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

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Match 1 - BOX SCORE PDF (PDF)
Match 2 - BOX SCORE (TBA)

FORT MYERS, FL. – The Akron volleyball team kicked off its 2019 season competing in the Homewood Suites Fort Myers classic, hosted by Florida Gulf Coast. The Zips opened with strong showings in both matches, but it would not prevail, as they would go on to lose to San Diego State, 3-0 (20-25, 19-25, 18-25), and host FGCU, 3-1 (17-25, 26-24, 19-25, 14-25).

Akron is now 0-2 to start its season, while the Aztecs improve to 3-0, and the Eagles pick up their first win of the season, 1-0.

"We did a number of things well today, one of which was pass at a high level. Unfortunately, we weren't as sharp as we could be offensively, and we made some service errors that were costly. Fortunately, these are fixable things that we can hopefully correct against a very good FGCU team tonight" - head coach Tom Hanna

In the Zips match against San Diego State, Sophomore Teagan Ochaya (Mentor, Ohio) led the Zips with 9 kills, while fellow sophomore Jen Durra (Painesville, Ohio) and junior Alexis Adleta (West Chester, Ohio) had 8 and 6 kills, respectively. Defensively, Adleta led the way with 12 digs, while Ochaya added eight. Junior setter Emily Weigand (Burton, Ohio) dished out 26 assists, while adding six digs.

Throughout the first set, the Zips played well, and stayed within 6 points of San Diego State for the majority of the set. Early in the set, the Zips were able to pull within two, (10-8), thanks to a block by sophomore Hannah Yaconis (Batavia, Ill.) and Ochaya.

The Aztecs would respond by scoring three consecutive points, forcing Akron to call their first of two timeouts. After the timeout, the Aztecs continued to increase the deficit, which forced Akron to call their final timeout of the set with its team down, (18-12).

The Zips showed an improved effort in the second set. After having gained an early lead (7-6), the Zips rattled off two consecutive points, thanks to a kill by Ochaya, followed by a big block by senior Ashley Richardson (Doylestown, Ohio) and Ochaya, which caused the Aztecs to call their first timeout. The Aztecs responded by scoring on seven of the next nine points, and ultimately forcing Akron to call its first timeout, down (16-13).

San Diego State would increase the deficit to five points, which led to Akron calling its second timeout, however the Aztecs would carry its momentum for the remainder of the set and put them ahead, two sets to none.

The third set, much like the first two, saw the Aztecs jump out to an early lead and not look back as they went on to take the final set, (25-18).

In Akron's loss to FGCU, Adleta and Karsner lead the offensive attack for the Zips, who finished with 14 and eight kills, respectively. Weigand dished out 37 assists, while adding five kills. Defensively, Sharrits finished with 21 digs, while Adleta added 11.

In the first set, the Zips opened strong. Weigand put away a well-set ball from Taylor Kuruzovich (Port Matilda, Pa.) to put the Zips ahead, (5-2). The Eagles would respond by scoring 10 of the next 12 points, putting them ahead (12-7). From there, the scoring went back and forth until a four-point run by FGCU would propel them far enough ahead to take the first set, 25-17.

The Eagles carried their momentum into the second set early, attaining a lead, (6-3), over the Zips. From there, the Zips' resilient offense fought back and were able to tie the game at 18. A kill by Weigand on the following point would propel them ahead and force FGCU to call their first timeout of the set.

Out of the timeout, the Zips continued to improve offensively, winning five of the next eight points. With the Zips a point away from taking the set, FGCU fought back to knot the score at 24. From there, two consecutive kills by senior Elya Karsner (Frankfort, Ky.) would lead Akron to the set victory, (26-24).

In the third set, both teams found their stride early on. FGCU quickly took a 4-0 lead, only to be taken right back by the Zips, scoring four in a row and tying the game. From there, back and forth scoring tied the game at eight, until a two-point run by the Eagles put them ahead, (10-8). The Eagles held a lead for the remainder of the set, eventually winning the set and putting them ahead, 2-1.

In the fourth set of the match, the Zips struggled to find its groove, as a five and four-point run by the Eagles in the heart of the set propelled them to win the match, 3-1.

"We did a nice job against a top 50 team on their home court by going into the break tied. We handled a number of situations well enough to put us in that position. Our challenge now is to sustain that for an entire match. We showed a good amount of resiliency with our performance improving from the first match to the second match today. I'm looking forward to seeing what we can do tomorrow against another NCAA tournament team from last year".

The Zips will conclude the final day of the classic tomorrow, Aug. 31, taking on Bryant at 4 p.m.