Zips Drop Final Matches to Columbia and Stony Brook in Saturday Action

Saturday, September 18

College Park, MD

10:30 AM

University of Akron

6-5,0-0MAC

Columbia

3-5,0-0Ivy League

Columbia

Akron

Zips Drop Final Matches to Columbia and Stony Brook in Saturday Action

September 18 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

GM 1 vs Columbia Boxscore (PDF) | Gm 2 vs Stony Brook Boxscore (PDF)

COLLEGE PARK, Md.- The Akron volleyball team (6-6) dropped a pair of matches to Columbia (3-1) and Stony Brook (3-2) on the final day of the Maryland Challenge at the XFINITY Arena.

After claiming the opening set, Akron was unable to keep the momentum as Columbia took control of the match and swept the next three sets. The Zips fell with scores of 25-22, 17-25, 15-25, 19-25.

The Lions posted 59 kills on the match to the Zips' 43 and held Akron to a .165 hitting percentage. Senior Teagan Ochaya (Mentor, Ohio) led the offense with 16, while sophomore Faith Johnson (Naperville, Ill.) earned 4 service aces. while senior Taylor Sharrits (Concord, Ohio) senior Emily Weigand (Burton, Ohio) paced the defense with 11 and 10 digs, respectively.

Akron fought hard in the afternoon forcing five sets but came up short against Stony Brook by scores of 23-25, 25-19, 17-25, 28-26, and 9-15.

Two Zips registered double-figure kills in senior Alexis Adleta (West Chester, Ohio) with 14, and senior Jen Durra (Painesville, Ohio) who tallied 12. Weigand recorded a match-high 23 digs, while Johnson and freshman Karleighana Jones (White Plains, N.Y.) held strong at the net with a trio of block assists each.

The Zips took won the second set after holding the Lions to a .184 hitting percentage. In the fourth set, Akron took advantage of multiple unanswered runs and took an early 7-1 lead. The two teams would tie the score 11 times before the Zips would claim the No.4 set in extra points.

Both teams battled in the final set as the score was even on five separate occasions before Stony Brook used a 7-1 run to claim the match.

Akron will return home and begin conference play next week on Sept. 24-25 as the Zips host Bowling Green. The Zips are scheduled to play Friday at 7 p.m. and will close out the weekend on Saturday with a 4 p.m. start. Fans can follow the action via live stats on GoZips.com.