Akron Falls 3-1 in Opening Match at Undefeated Kent State

Thursday, February 11

Kent, OH

7 PM

University of Akron

2-5,2-5MAC

Kent State

5-0,5-0MAC

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Akron	23	25	21	15	1
Kent St.	25	22	25	25	3

Akron Falls 3-1 in Opening Match at Undefeated Kent State

February 12 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Akron Falls 3-1 in Opening Match at Undefeated Kent State
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Box Score PDF

Kent, Ohio – The Akron Zips battled their undefeated rival Kent State to a 3-1 (23-25, 25-22, 21-25, 16-25) setback at the M.A.C. Center on Thursday evening as part of the Crystal Clinic Orthopaedic Wagon Wheel Challenge.

Win the win, the Golden Flashes earned one-half point to bring the Crystal Clinic Wagon Wheel Challenge standings to 2.0-1.5 in Akron's favor.

Senior LS Alexis Adleta (West Chester, Ohio) and junior MB Megan Kelly (Lakewood, Ill.) led the Zips scoring as Akron and Kent State split the first two sets. Adleta floored a team-high 13 kills on 32 attempts with three errors for a .312 hitting percentage, while Kelly posted a .333 hitting percentage on 10 kills in 18 attempts and four errors. Junior RS Teagan Ochaya (Mentor, Ohio) and senior RS Shelby Fulmer (Perrysburg, Ohio) supported the offense with eight and six kills, respectively. Senior S Emily Weigand (Burton, Ohio) and senior S Taylor Kuruzovich (Port Matilda, Pa.) accounted for 45 of the Zips 53 assists as Weigand distributed a team-best 25 helpers and Kuruzovich added 20 assists.

Defensively, six players combined for the team's five total blocks with Fulmer and junior MB Hannah Yaconis (Batavia, Ill.) leading the way as each player recorded a solo block and block assist. On the ground, senior DS Taylor Sharrits (Concord, Ohio) registered a game-high 23 digs followed by Adleta and Kuruzovich with 11 digs each.

In the first set, Akron started with a 3-0 run as Adleta recorded the match's first point. Yaconis followed with a kill and a KSU attacking error allowed the Zips to take a 3-0 advantage. The Golden Flashes managed to tie the set 7-7, and used a 6-0 run to establish an 11-7 lead. Kent State maintained the lead for the remainder of the set as Akron cut the lead to one points several times, including kills by Kelly and Ochaya for a 24-23 ledger. Kent State stopped the Zips' late run and ended the set with a kill, 25-23.

The Zips bounced back with a second set win. The second frame featured 13 tied scores and five lead changes as the intense back-and-forth battle saw the largest lead by either side at three points, 23-20 by Akron. Up to that point in the set, both teams jockeyed for control of the scoreboard as only one-point separated the two squads for the majority of the set. With the set at a 20-20 stalemate, Akron scored three consecutive points on two Kent State errors and a kill by Fulmer. The home team recorded the next two points, but Akron held on for the win as the set ended on a pair of KSU errors.

The Golden Flashes established the early lead in the third set and Akron tied the set on eight occasions but never controlled the scoreboard. Kent State won the set 25-21 and secured the match with a 25-16 showing in the fourth set.

Akron and Kent State will battle again on Friday, Feb. 12 at 7 p.m. at the M.A.C. Center, and as always Crystal Clinic Wagon Wheel Challenge points will be on the line. Fans can follow the action via live stats on GoZips.com.