Akron Wins Five-Set Thriller to Open MAC Play
Thursday's Volleyball Results
Akron 3, Buffalo 2
Ball State 3, Toledo 0
Courtesy of MAC Sport Information Departments
Akron 3, Buffalo 2
Box Score
BUFFALO, N.Y. – Akron Volleyball earned its first conference win of the season in a hard-fought, back-and-forth match over Buffalo, topping them in five sets (25-19, 25-15, 27-29, 24-26, 15-10) Thursday night in Buffalo, N.Y.
Akron improves to 8-4, while Buffalo falls to 4-9.
Leading the way offensively for the Zips were junior Alexis Adleta (West Chester, Ohio), and senior Ashley Richardson (Doylestown, Ohio) who finished with 15 and 13 kills, respectively. Junior setter Emily Weigand (Burton, Ohio) dished out 44 assists, while adding five aces.
The Zips played stellar defense, finishing the match with a record-high 100 digs, as four players finished with 15 or more digs. Leading the way were junior defensive specialist Taylor Sharrits (Concord, Ohio), and Adleta, who finished with 26 and 23 kills, respectively. Also contributing were senior Elya Karsner (Frankfort, Ky.) and Weigand, who totaled 16 and 15 digs, respectively.
In the first set, the two teams fought hard, however the Zips were able to gain an early 8-4 lead, thanks to a four-point run, which included two consecutive aces by Weigand, as well as kills by Weigand and Adleta.
The Bulls were able to rally, and eventually tie the game at 11, and again at 12. The Zips, however, would retake the lead thanks to a block by Richardson and Weigand, and would not lose the lead for the remainder of the set. Akron went on to win, 25-19.
In the second set, the Zips were able to continue their dominance on the court. After tying the game at four, Akron were able to rattle off four consecutive points, capped off with a kill by
(Lakewood, Ill.), forcing Buffalo to call its first timeout of the set.
Out of the timeout, the Zips continued their run for five more points, increasing the lead, 13-4. Akron were able to maintain its lead, as the point differential did not sink below six points for the remainder of the set. Akron took the second set, 25-15.
The Bulls, however, would not go down without a fight. The third set saw a much stronger performance from Buffalo, which included eight ties and four lead changes. The Zips held a 14-11 lead midway through the set, however the Bulls were able to respond well, winning eight of the next 11 points, putting them ahead, 19-17.
The Bulls held the lead for the next 11 points, however the resilient Zips were able to fight back and tie the match at 24, thanks to a kill by Teagan Ochaya (Mentor, Ohio). Consecutive side outs from both sides eventually re-tied the game at 27, until a two-point run by the Bulls propelled them to win the set, 29-27.
The highly competitive play would continue through the fourth set, which saw 15 ties and 10 lead changes. The set also saw the point differential not grow larger than three points. The Zips were able to gain an early 10-7 lead over the Bulls, however they responded well by rattling off four points of their own, retaking the lead, 11-10.
The two teams did a great job of siding out throughout the set, however, after Akron took a late 24-23 lead, the Bulls called a timeout and came out of the timeout firing, scoring three consecutive points, and taking the fourth set, 26-24.
The fifth set followed suit of the previous two early, as the Zips were able to gain an early 4-2 lead over the Bulls, who responded with three of their own, pulling ahead 5-4. The resilient Zips were able to retake the lead, 7-6 as the two teams switched sides.
Weigand continued her serving dominance out of the side-change, scoring another ace and putting Akron up by two. After two consecutive side outs, an attack error by the Bulls forced them to call their first timeout of the final set. After a kill by Buffalo, the Zips were able to finish the set and ultimately the match, thanks to a three-point run, capped off with a big block by Adleta and Richardson.
"It was a great road win to start off MAC play. We continue to be very good in serve and pass, which translated well to a good offensive night. This was thanks in large part to our passing, digging 100 balls and blocking over two balls a set, which our serving influenced. We look forward to coming home to the James A. Rhodes Arena Saturday night, and continuing our strong play in front of our fans" said head coach Tom Hanna.
Ball State 3, Toledo 0
Box Score
TOLEDO, Ohio - - The Ball State women's volleyball team had its offense running on all cylinders Thursday night in Savage Arena, as four different players blasted nine kills in a 3-0 (25-19, 25-15, 25-22) sweep of Toledo to open Mid-American Conference play.
While it was the Rockets (7-6; 0-1 MAC) who entered the night with a league-leading .229 team attack percentage, it was the Cardinals (7-6; 1-0 MAC) who looked like the offensive juggernauts thanks in large part to the play of its freshman class.
Opposite Allison Hamaker led the charge early, blasting five kills and hitting .625 (5-0-8) in the opening set. Her strong play allowed the rest of the Cardinals offense to get going as well, and she was one of four freshmen attackers to finish the night with nine kills. She was joined by outside Natalie Risi, outside Natalie Mitchem and middle MyKel Ivy.
"It was a great start to the MAC season," head coach Kelli Miller Phillips said. "The upperclassmen did a great job of having our team prepared and the freshmen did a great job of trusting themselves and just playing our style of volleyball."
In addition to the solid offensive play, with senior setter Amber Seaman and redshirt freshman setter Esther Grussing combining to run the offense at a .233 (44-16-120), the Cardinals were just as good on defense.
The first frame played a large part in setting the defensive tone, as Ball State collected 27 digs and held Toledo to a .085 (11-7-47) rate of success. Risi and senior libero Kate Avila both collected nine digs in the opening stanza and finished the night tied for match-high honors with 17 digs. Overall, the Ball State defense limited the Rockets to a .137 (33-17-117) attack percentage.
"A big part of our defensive success was out service pressure," Phillips said. "We were able to keep Toledo off balance with our serving and that allowed our defense to set up early and slow down their offense."
Like Phillips said, the Cardinals put on a show from behind the service line, tallying six aces in the sweep. Risi and Ivy recorded two ace apiece, while Avila and Seaman collected one each. Over the last four matches, Ball State has served up 31 total aces, or 2.21 aces per set which would be good enough to lead the MAC by a large margin and would rank in the top four nationally.
"We've been putting a ton of focus on improving our service pressure in practice with our pace and location," Phillips said. "That is one area we are in complete control of in the match, so we want to make sure we take advantage of those situation."
The Ball State women's volleyball team closes its first road swing of the MAC season Saturday night with a 7 p.m. first serve at Akron.
