Akron Volleyball Earns Split on Final Day of Fullerton/Riverside Classic

Saturday, August 25

Riverside, CA

11 AM PT

University of Akron

1-1

Eastern Washington

2-0

Akron

Eastern Washington

Akron Volleyball Earns Split on Final Day of Fullerton/Riverside Classic

August 26 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

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MATCH 1 - BOX SCORE (PDF)
MATCH 2 - BOX SCORE (PDF)

FULLERTON, Calif – The University of Akron volleyball team earned a split on its final day of the Fullerton/Riverside Classic on Saturday. The Zips pushed Eastern Washington to four sets, but ultimately fell, 3-1 (20-25, 25-14, 20-25, 15-20). Akron concluded the weekend with a 3-2 (20-25, 26-24, 22-25, 25-21, 15-10) victory over Montana.

Akron improved to 2-1 overall after its first weekend of play.

In the Zips match against Eastern Washington, senior Kayla Gwozdz (Temperance, Mich.) led with 13 kills while adding eight digs. Sophomore Alexis Adleta (West Chester, Ohio) and junior Ashley Richardson (Doylestown, Ohio) had 10 kills, each, while sophomore Shelby Fulmer (Perrysburg, Ohio) recorded nine kills. Sophomores Emily Weigand (Burton, Ohio) and Taylor Kuruzovich (Port Matilda, Pa.) had 27 and 21 set assists, respectively.

Senior Abbey Pawlak (Sylvania, Ohio) had two service aces, while Weigand and Richardson each had one. The back row was guided by sophomore Taylor Sharrits (Concord, Ohio) with 25 digs. Weigand finished with seven, while Pawlak and Kuruzovich each added four.

After falling behind early, the Zips pushed to tie the first set, 9-9, with the help of kills from Gwozdz and Richardson. A 7-2 run set the Eagles in route to take set one, 25-20.

Akron got off to an early lead in the next set, thanks to service aces from Pawlak and Richardson, in addition to back-to-back kills by Gwozdz. Eastern Washington would come back to tie it at 6-all, but a 10-4 run would give the Zips a substantial lead. The Eagles wouldn't come closer than four points during the remainder of the set. A block by Fulmer and Richardson would cap off a 25-14 second set victory to keep the Zips alive.

The beginning of the third set was back-and-forth as the score sat tied six times. Locked at 8-8, the Eagles would score six unanswered points that would be the beginning of a 13-4 run. The Zips were able to come within four-points of EWU; however, the Zips would come up short, falling 25-20 in the third set.

The Zips would be outscored by the Eagles 25-15 in the fourth and final set, to fall 3-1 in its second match of the Fullerton/Riverside Classic.

In Akron's win over Montana, Adleta led the way with 19 kills, while Gwozdz and Richardson had 15, each. Sharrits held team-bests of 28 digs and four service aces. Weigand dished out 45 set assists and Kuruzovich added 12. Richardson recorded five blocks, while Weigand and Adleta added two, each.

The Grizzlies jumped ahead at 11-7, when a pair kills from Gwozdz and freshman Hannah Yaconis (Batavia, Ill.), in addition to three errors committed by Montana, tied things up at 12. A 10-4 run would push the Grizzlies take set one, 25-20.

The Zips started the second set by scoring six consecutive points to take an early lead. A 10-3 run would give Montana a 19-17 edge over Akron. From there, the teams would trade leads until the Grizzlies, who were leading 24-23, committed three attacking errors giving Akron a 26-24 second set victory.

Although the third set sat tied at 7, a 10-2 run would give Montana a significant lead. The Zips would rally to come within two points, but a kill from Montana's Mykaela Hammer would set the Grizzlies up, 2-1.

In the fourth set, the Zips took an early 9-2 lead thanks to a trio of service aces. Although they came close, Montana would not see a lead for the entirety of the set. A final kill from Gwozdz would give Akron a 25-21 win, forcing a fifth set.

Akron held just an 8-7 edge in the final set when kills from Gwozdz, Adleta and Fulmer increased the lead to 13-7. Montana was unable to catch up and kills from Fulmer and Richardson would finish off Akron's five-set battle with the Grizzlies.

"After a disappointing performance against Eastern Washington, I was extremely proud of the resiliency our team showed this evening," head coach Tom Hanna said. "We were able to bounce back against Montana with a five set win after being down 2-1. Our ability to be flexible with our personnel and systems was important against Montana."

Sharrits was named to the All-Tournament team after averaging 6.07 digs per set over the weekend.

"Taylor had a great weekend and was extremely deserving of her All-tournament honor," said Hanna. "If we can get that kind of performance from her consistently, we're going to be in a good place."

As a team Akron hit .291, compared to Montana at .209. The Zips totaled 72 kills and 78 digs, while the Grizzlies had 51 and 62, respectively.

Akron kicks off its home campaign next weekend as it hosts the Akron Invitational, Aug. 31-Sept. 2.