KEVIN JENISON
GoSycamores.com
AKRON, OHIO ? The Sycamore volleyball team fought back from a 2-0 deficit against the tournament host Akron Zips but couldn't pick up the victory, losing to Akron 3-2 (22-25, 13-25, 30-28, 25-23, 8-15) in their second game of the Akron Invitational Saturday night.
Indiana State fell to 6-4 on the season with the setback which is still the best start for a Sycamore team since the 1996 squad was 6-4 after the first 10 games. ISU will conclude tournament action on Saturday when they take on Appalachian State (8-1) at 2 p.m. (ET). Indiana State opened tournament action with a 3-1 (25-14, 25-15, 19-25, 25-19) win over St. Francis (PA). Appalachian State defeated Akron 3-0 (27-25, 25-22, 25-20) and St. Francis (PA) 3-1 (21-26, 25-21, 25-11, 25-11) in their first two tournament games.
Sophomore Morgan Dall posted her sixth double-double in 10 games this season, leading the Sycamore offense with 21 kills while also picking up 14 digs. Junior Stacy Qualizza had 10 kills and four blocks. Freshman setter Loni Mackinson had her third double-double of the season with a team high 42 assists and 19 digs. Junior Kiya James led the defense with 29 digs which tied her season high.
There were seven ties and three lead changes in the opening set. Indiana State had the early advantage in the opener with their biggest lead at five after a pair of Dall kills and one from Qualizza. The Zips fought back to tie the set twice before taking a 14-13. ISU tied the set for the final time at 16 off a Qualizza. Indiana State took advantage of an Akron error to lead for the final time, 17-16, with the Zips rolling off four straight points and holding on for the 25-22 win.
The second set was all Akron as the Zips scored eight straight points to take an early 8-1 lead after ISU scored the first point of the set. Akron continued to dominate play and posted a 25-13 win to go up 2-0 in the game.
Indiana State came out determined in the third set and rolled to a 12-6 advantage after a kill by Auriel Armstrong. The Sycamores reached set point on a kill by Dall that put ISU up 24-19 but Indiana State had trouble sealing the deal. The Zips fought back to tie the set at 24 but the Sycamores were able to maintain the advantage even though the set was tied four more times, the last at 28 after a Mackinson kill. Monique Morris picked up a kill to put ISU up 29-28 and the Sycamores posted the 30-28 win on an Akron error.
The score was tied 10 times with four lead changes as Indiana State fought to remain in the game during the fourth set. The Sycamores were able to keep the advantage throughout the set as they never trailed but could never put the Zips away. ISU had their biggest lead at 21-16 off a block by senior Ana Maira Charun and Armstrong but Akron kept coming back, tying the set at 23. An Akron error and a Morris kill scored the final two points for ISU as the Sycamores even the game at 2-2 with a 25-23 win.
Dall gave ISU the early lead in the deciding fifth set with a kill to score the first point of the set. Akron came back with straight points and never trailed again. The Zips continued to pull away from the Sycamores and closed out the win with a 3-0 run to take the set 15-8 and the game 3-2.
Live stats from the Akron Invitational are available at: http://www.gozips.com/liveStats/liveStats.dbml?SPSID=47191&SPID=4337&DB_OEM_ID=10800&KEY=
