Nov. 8, 2002

Box Score

KENT, Ohio-Miami's road woes continued as the RedHawk volleyball team fell in three games at Kent State, 26-30, 19-30, 27-30 on Friday evening. The RedHawks drop to 8-17 overall and 3-10 in the Mid-American Conference, while Kent State moves to 15-10 overall and 8-5 in league action.

Miami jumped out of the gates in the first game to take a quick 6-3 lead off two kills from senior middle hitter Jennifer Eaton (Cincinnati, Ohio/Ursuline Academy) and a block by Eaton and senior outside hitter Kelly McCullough (Hudson, Ohio/Hudson). The RedHawks were able to extend their lead to seven, 19-12, but the Golden Flashes steadily chipped away at the RedHawk lead to knot things, 23-23. KSU took its first lead, 25-24, and never looked back as it took the game, 30-26.

In the second set, Miami led at the onset of the game, 3-1, opening the game with a big block from Eaton and sophomore outside hitter Angie Zent (Fort Wayne, Ind./Northrup). KSU came back to capture an 8-5 lead, but the RedHawks earned three straight points, highlighted by a kill from junior middle hitter Susan Poll (Grand Rapids, Mich./East Kentwood), to tie the game, 8-8. From there, Kent State went on a 6-0 run, and led by as many as eight until McCullough pounded back-to-back kills to close the gap to five, 13-18. Kent State, however, kept putting together multiple-point spurts to jump out to an 11-point lead, which ended up as the final margin in favor of the Golden Flashes, 30-19.

McCullough opened the third stanza with a kill, and Miami went on to build a three-point lead, sparked by to Poll kills and capped by a kill from sophomore outside hitter Tara Buroker (Bluffton, Ohio/Bluffton). Eventually the RedHawks led by five, doing so on three occasions. The RedHawks' final five-point edge came at 16-11 off a devastating block by the Poll/McCullough tandem. Kent State came back to tie the game, 18-18, and the two teams traded points until the Golden Flashes were able to take their second lead of the match 26-23, off two Miami attack errors and a KSU kill. A Poll kill and a KSU ball handling error cut the Golden Flash lead to one, 26-25, but the Golden Flashes ended the game with a kill to make the final score 30-27.

For Miami, McCullough led the team with 10 kills, seven digs and four blocks. The RedHawks return to action next week, traveling to Ball State for a 7 p.m. contest on Wednesday, Nov. 13.