The University of Akron Athletics
University of Akron
Miami (Ohio)
Volleyball clinches win No. 700 in five set barn burner against Miami
September 29 | Women's Volleyball
Follow Akron Volleyball on Twitter and Facebook
AKRON, Ohio – The University of Akron volleyball team locked up its 700th victory in the history of the program in a pivotal five set thriller over Miami (Ohio) Saturday evening in front of the hometown crowd.
UA bounced back from being shut out the night before, and the match was nothing short of a nail-biter from start to finish. The Zips capitalized on career nights from Tina Dimitrijevs and Paiton Twitty and fielded three players with double-doubles to improve their record to 9-7 and 2-2 in the Mid-American Conference.
Dimitrijevs exploded for a career-high 25 kills with only three miscues for a match-high .524 hitting percentage to set the tone for Akron offensively. The rest of the team followed in suit, with Twitty capturing a new career mark of her own with 14 kills, and Alex Cocklin chipping in 11.
The senior-freshman tandem of Morgan Kuhn and Ashley Holder was integral to Akron's game plan all night, as the duo was able to place the ball perfectly to enable the middles to convert points consistently. The two setters each finished with assists-digs double-doubles, Holder doubling her previous record with 18 assists and 13 digs, and Kuhn with 41 and 11.
The road to UA's milestone victory started to twist and turn around the third set. After forfeiting a six point lead and coming up empty handed in the first set, and nearly making the same mistake in the second set, Akron entered the third period with the match tied 1-1.
Although Akron stayed in line with Miami in the early going of the third, it would see its last advantage at the 11-10 mark before the RedHawks were able to distance themselves and lead by as many as six before securing the victory. The Zips were held to a .068 hitting percentage during that set, their lowest of the match.
The turning point of the match was near the end of the fourth set, which could have gone in either team's favor with the score locked at 19. Miami scored on the next play to go up by one at 20-19 and Akron called a timeout.
Cocklin came through in the clutch to get the ball rolling, scoring right after the break to tie it up again at 20-all. Akron recovered from a bad set with a Twitty kill, and forced Miami into a hitting error to go back up at 22-21 and make the RedHawks stop and adjust. The Zips scored three points on the next three plays, highlighted by two of Dimitrijevs' kills, to win the fourth set and gain the edge they would need to dominate the fifth.
There was no question who the final set belonged to after Akron charged ahead with five unanswered points to start things off. Five of UA's 15 points in the period came off the hands of Dimitrijevs, who Miami could not find an answer for. Mary Delich and Alex Wiederholt came up with big plays in key situations as well to ensure that Akron came out on the right side of the contest.
Not to be discounted, a big reason for the success of the Zips' offense against Miami was the stand-up effort shown by the defense. Almost everyone on Akron's roster was a defensive specialist on Saturday, as five different players finished with 10 or more digs, with Jill Paluch leading the way at 16.
With the victory, Akron has already surpassed its win total in conference play from last season in just the second weekend of MAC action.
Next up on Akron's slate is a trip to Ohio on Friday, Oct. 5 for a 7 p.m. match, followed by a showdown with rival Kent State on Saturday, Oct. 6. That 7 p.m. match will be the team's first shot this season at earning points towards the PNC Wagon Wheel Challenge.
