Zips Top Cal State Fullerton in Season Opener

Friday, August 24

Fullerton, CA

2 PM PT

University of Akron

1-0

Cal State Fullerton

0-1

Akron

Cal State Fullerton

August 24 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

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BOX SCORE PDF

FULLERTON, Calif. – The University of Akron volleyball team kicked off its 2018 season with a thrilling 3-2 (25-15, 25-17, 17-25, 16-25, 15-13) win over Cal State Fullerton Friday evening in Fullerton, Calif.

Akron is now 1-0 to start its season, while the Titans fell to 0-1.

"I'm excited by our ability to produce a win while riding the ebbs and flow of a road match to grab our first win," said head coach Tom Hanna. "With three freshmen in a 10-player rotation, there's going to be some bumps in the road and this team found a way to navigate the bumps."

Senior Kayla Gwozdz (Temperance, Mich.) led the Zips with 18 kills, while sophomore Alexis Adleta (West Chester, Ohio) and freshman Teagan Ochaya (Mentor, Ohio) had 15 and 12 kills, respectively. Defensively, Taylor Sharrits (Concord, Ohio) set a new career high of 32 digs, while Gwozdz added 17. Sophomore setters Emily Weigand (Burton, Ohio) and Taylor Kuruzovich (Port Matilda, Pa) had 35 and 18 set assists, respectively.

"Defensively we dug a ton of balls and showed tremendous improvement in that area," said Hanna. "Taylor Sharrits had 32 digs and we had 84 as a team, both of which are big performances for us."

The Zips got off to an early 4-0 lead to begin the match thanks to kills from Ochaya and consecutive services aces by Weigand. After a timeout, Cal State Fullerton was able to regain composure and come back to tie the set at 7-7. An 11-3 run, which included three kills and a service ace from Gwozdz, set Akron ahead, 18-10. The Titans were unable to come back from the deficit, while the Zips took the first set, 25-15.

Despite Cal State Fullerton earning the first point of the second set, a 10-4 run quickly set the Zips ahead. The Titans were able to come within three points of Akron, but four consecutive points capped off by a kill from freshman Megan Kelly (Lakewood, Ill.) would seal a second set win for the Zips.

The Titans started the third set on a 4-1 run. However, kills from Adleta and Richardson in addition to two Titan errors, evened out the score, 6-6. The Titans were able to come back and the Zips didn't see a lead for the remainder of the set, resulting in a 25-17 third set victory for Cal State Fullerton.

CSF gained a significant lead to begin the fourth set, but a 10-6 run set the Zips within one of the Titans. Seven unanswered points by Cal State Fullerton would help to seal a 25-16 win in the fourth set.

The final set of the match was back and forth. In a set that saw seven ties, the Zips were able to come out on top with a 15-13 win.

As a team, Akron hit .238 compared to Cal State Fullerton at .240.

Tomorrow, the Zips take on Eastern Washington at 2 p.m. (ET) and Montana at 8 p.m. (ET)