Oct. 9, 2009
Final Stats
KENT, Ohio - The Miami women's volleyball team got back on the winning track with a 3-1 win over Kent State (20-25, 25-18, 25-21, 25-23) Friday night. The RedHawks improve to 9-8 overall and 4-1 in the Mid-American Conference. The Golden Flashes are 9-10 and 2-3 in the MAC.
Kent State scored the first three points of the first set, but Miami quickly tied the score with a 4-1 run that featured a kill from Megan Griffin and a service ace by Maria Leahy. With the score tied at 14, the Golden Flashes built an advantage with a 5-2 run to take a 19-16 lead. Off a Michele Metzler kill and two Kent State errors, the RedHawks closed to within one at 19-20, but the Golden Flashes closed out the set on a 5-1 run to win, 25-20.
A long run by both teams was the story of set two. Miami won eight of the first 10 points in a streak that featured two kills from Griffin and two service aces from Leahy. Kent State answered with a 13-5 run of its own to pull ahead, 15-13. The RedHawks scored the next three points off kill from Andrea Atteberry, a Golden Flash attack error and a Hallie Hanks kill to retake the lead, and they never looked back. They finished the set on a 12-3 run and earned a 25-18 victory.
Leahy helped Miami build a 4-1 lead in set three with two early kills. Kent State tied the score at seven with a 6-3 run. From there neither team could establish a lead of bigger than two points until the score was tied at 18. The RedHawks scored the next three points off a Metzler kill and two Golden Flash errors. Following two Kent State points that pulled them to within one at 20-21, Miami finished off the set, 25-21, thanks to two kills from Griffin, a kill from Hanks and a block from Griffin and Amy Kendall.
Set four was tight as Miami clung to a one-to-two point lead throughout. With the score 17-15 in favor of the RedHawks, a 4-1 run by the Golden Flashes gave them their first advantage at 19-18. Three straight points off two kills from Griffin and one from Hanks gave the lead back to Miami at 21-19. With the score tied at 21, the RedHawks were able to close out the set with a 4-2 run thanks to two kills by Hanks and a match winning kill from Cassie Farrell that avoided the Kent State block attempt.
Hanks led Miami with 14 kills. Griffin contributed 11 kills, one solo block, eight block assists and had a .381 hitting percentage. Atteberry led the RedHawks with 30 assists, while Lisa Treadway recorded 10 digs. Miami hit .279 for the match, compared to .218 for Kent State.
Miami returns to action Saturday night when it travels to Athens, Ohio to take on the Ohio Bobcats at 7 p.m. Ohio is currently in first place in the MAC East Division at 5-0, one game ahead of the RedHawks.
