KENT, Ohio – The Miami University volleyball team made it 10 wins in a row with a hard-fought, 3-2 (25-23, 24-26, 25-16, 25-27, 15-11), victory over Kent State on Friday. It is the RedHawks’ longest winning streak since they won 10 in a row from Sept. 9-Oct. 4, 1997. Miami improves to 19-8 overall and 12-3 in the Mid-American Conference. The Golden Flashes fall to 15-13 overall and 7-8 in the MAC.
It was a historical day for senior setter/right side hitter Meg Riley as she reached a pair of milestones. Early in the first set, her first assist of the day gave her 2,000 for her career. She is only the 11th player in Miami history to reach that mark. In the fourth set, her ninth kill of the match made her the 20th player in school history to reach the 1,000 kill mark. She is the first person to be a member of both clubs. Overall her performance was fantastic as Riley recorded her fifth triple-double of the season with 13 kills, 29 assists and 11 digs. She attacked a team-high .426 for the match.
Junior outside hitter Annie Reiswig and sophomore middle hitter Paige Hill also played big parts in Miami’s win on Friday. Reiswig recorded a season-high 16 kills to lead the RedHawks, and added eight digs. Hill put down 11 kills and was a part of seven of Miami’s nine blocks. That included a career-high four solo blocks.
Knowing she was close to making history, Riley recorded three kills early in set one. Kills from Reiswig and senior right side hitter Sarah Chaney helped the ‘Hawks jump to a 9-4 advantage. Kent State tried to chip away at the lead, but MU held it between two and three points for the majority of the middle of the set. Trailing 18-21, the Golden Flashes scored three in a row to tie the score. A kill from Reiswig and a service ace by Hill put Miami back in control. KSU closed to within one once again, but it made an attack error, giving the Red and White a 25-23 victory.
Two blocks from Hill and a service ace by sophomore setter Krista Brakauskas were part of five straight points for Miami as it took a 5-0 lead. The Golden Flashes answered with an 11-5 run to take the advantage themselves at 11-10. The lead changed four more times until a kill from freshman middle hitter Meredith Stutz tied the score at 19. KSU was on the brink of winning the set after a 5-2 run gave it set point at 24-21, but the RedHawks fought it off with two kills and a block by Hill. The comeback was not to be as Kent State answered with the next two in a row to take a 26-24 win.
Freshman outside hitter Olivia Rusek recorded two service aces and teamed up with Stutz on a block, while Reiswig got a service ace of her own to help Miami open up an 8-3 advantage in set three. Rusek continued on the attack as she put down four kills, while the ‘Hawks pushed the lead to seven at 16-9. Hill and Riley took care of the rest with a pair of kills and a block as MU finished off a 25-16 win to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
Once again the beginning of the fourth set was all Miami, as kills from Reiswig, Riley, Hill, Chaney and Stutz helped build a 10-7 lead. Again the Golden Flashes fought back with a 13-7 run of their own to take their largest advantage of the match at 17-14. A kill from Rusek stopped the bleeding, while several Kent State attack errors and a kill from Hill helped the RedHawks pull within one at 19-20. After the Flashes scored a point, Reiswig put down three kills, while Chaney contributed one as part of a 5-1 run that gave Miami match point at 24-22. KSU did not give up, scoring three straight to fight them off and create set point for itself. This time a kill from Chaney retied the score, but the Golden Flashes answered with two in a row to steal a 27-25 victory and send the match to a fifth and deciding set.
A pair of solo blocks gave Kent State a quick 2-0 lead to begin set five. A kill and a service ace by Rusek started a 7-2 answer for the RedHawks that made it 7-4, Miami. Riley, Rusek and Stutz each had kills during that run, while Riley also had a service ace. A 4-0 run by the Golden Flashes saw them retake the advantage at 8-7. With the score tied at nine, back-to-back kills from Chaney and Hill put the ‘Hawks back in front and forced a KSU timeout. Out of the break, the teams traded sideouts until it was 12-11 in favor of Miami. From there, Brakauskas assisted on three straight kills, two from Riley and one from Reiswig as the RedHawks finished off the 15-11 victory and the dramatic 3-2 win in the match.
Chaney recorded eight kills for Miami, while Rusek had seven and Stutz set a new career-high with six. Brakauskas had a double-double with a season-high 34 assists to go along with 10 digs, while freshman libero Maeve McDonald led the RedHawks with 20 digs. Miami had a season-high 12 service aces in the victory, with Riley and Rusek leading the way with three each. The ‘Hawks hit .249 for the match, while holding Kent State to a .198 attack percentage.
Miami completes the regular season on Saturday when it travels to Ohio for the “Battle of the Bricks.” The RedHawks will be attempting to end the Bobcats attempt at a perfect MAC season as they will enter the match at 15-0. Match time is scheduled for 7 p.m.
