The Raiders fell to Akron 3-2 in the first round of the Holiday Inn Invitational on Friday night.
“We had a lot of errors that kind of compounded in each set,” head coach Susan Clements said.
The two teams split the first two sets as WSU took the first and Akron won the second. After the break things got interesting. WSU trailed Akron 15-10 in the set but battled back, eventually winning 28-26 to go up two sets to one.
The fourth set began with both teams going back and forth for their first four points. Akron picked up their pace a bit as they finished the set on a 21-6 run forcing a final set.
“That fourth set was tough,” Clements said. “We were out of system. Our defense had broken down and our servicing as well.”
Akron continued their success from the fourth set by winning the final set 15-12 to win the match.
Sophomore Maddie Lohmeier gathered 51 assist in the match bringing her season total to 301 while sophomore Jessie Thornton collected 20 digs to bring her season total to 118. Both lead the team in those categories.
Sophomore Katie Klusman led the Raiders with 19 kills followed by sophomore Megan Hopkins with 13 and senior Marisa Aiello with 12.
There were 16 lead changes and 37 tie scores in the match. The Raiders (5-3) will be back in action tomorrow against Saint Francis (PA) for their next game in the Invitational.
“Our warm up wasn’t very good and our pregame as well,” Clements said. “We talked about re-focusing ourselves in that moment and being ready.”
The game will begin at 11:00 a.m. in the C.J. McLin Gymnasium.
