The University of Akron volleyball team closed its 2026 season in thrilling fashion Saturday night, rallying to beat rival Kent State 3-2 at James A. Rhodes Arena in a five-set finale that swung on a marathon fourth set, the University of Akron athletics department reported.
Akron (12-16, 7-9 Mid-American Conference) took the opening set 25-22, then watched Kent State (11-16, 5-11 MAC) answer with wins of 25-18 and 25-19 to move within one set of the match, according to Akron athletics. The Zips responded with their strongest offensive set of the night — 24 kills and a .267 hitting percentage — and outlasted the Golden Flashes 33-31 in the fourth to force a decider in front of 905 fans on Senior Night.
In the fifth set, Akron collected eight kills to Kent State’s six and held the Flashes to a .053 hitting percentage, closing out the 15-13 win to complete the season sweep of its rival, Akron athletics reported. The Zips also beat Kent State 3-0 on Sept. 23 in the teams’ MAC opener.
Kent State athletics, reporting the same match from the visitors’ side, confirmed the set scores — 22-25, 25-18, 25-19, 31-33, 13-15 — and noted that three Golden Flashes posted career highs in the finale. Juniors Vanessa Imoh and Nadia Miller shared Kent State’s team lead with 16 kills each; Imoh hit .464 while matching her career high, and Miller set a new career high while adding six blocks and three aces, according to Kent State athletics.
For Akron, graduate student Chiara Gennari led the way in her final match as a Zip with 18 kills on .424 hitting and three block assists, Akron athletics reported. Chidera Ozoh added 13 kills while hitting .357, Lauren Wilson recorded 11 kills, and Jessie Musselman contributed 10 kills. Lyndi Wolf led Akron with seven total blocks.
The setting and defense carried the Zips through the long night. Clara Christensen directed the offense with 41 assists, with Payton Evans adding 11, and senior Vanessa Del Real paced the defense with a team-high 27 digs, according to Akron athletics. As a team, Akron recorded 73 kills, 69 assists and 84 digs, edging Kent State 73-69 in kills despite being out-hit .246 to .223 overall — a gap the Zips erased by holding Kent State nearly silent in the fifth set.
Kent State’s supporting numbers showed how close the finale was. Sophomore Catie Patterson led the Flashes’ defense with 23 digs, tying her career best, and senior Christina Vigil recorded a double-double with a season-high 48 assists and 10 digs, Kent State athletics reported. Mercedez Brown added 13 digs and Maggie Kachmarik 11 for the Flashes.
The night doubled as a farewell. Following the match, Akron honored four seniors — Vanessa Del Real, Sarah Bettis, Chiara Gennari and Chidera Ozoh — for their contributions to the program, Akron athletics reported. Del Real closed a four-year career in which she entered the finale with 1,684 career digs across 114 matches; Ozoh entered with 401 career kills and 237 total blocks; Bettis, a four-year member of the Zips, contributed nine kills and three block assists in the finale.
The result ends both teams’ seasons. Akron finishes 12-16 overall and 7-9 in the MAC, with a rivalry sweep and a winning final night at home; Kent State closes 11-16 and 5-11, its season ending with career-best performances that still were not quite enough. Five-set finishes were a theme across Ohio volleyball this weekend — Wright State rallied from two sets down to beat Purdue Fort Wayne in five, and Toledo topped Bowling Green in four sets to close its regular season.
Del Real’s finale capped the statistical arc of Akron’s senior class. She entered the match with 498 career assists and 167 service aces to go with her 1,684 digs, according to Akron athletics, and her 27 digs against Kent State led all Zips in the finale. Gennari, a graduate student who joined Akron after three seasons at Idaho, entered the night with 373 career kills across 96 collegiate matches; Ozoh entered with a career .351 hitting percentage and an average of 1.03 blocks per set, Akron athletics reported.
What happens next for both programs is the offseason: roster decisions, recruiting and the turn toward the 2027 season, with Akron carrying the memory of a Senior Night comeback and Kent State carrying three career-high performances out of its finale.
Photo: Cards84664, CC BY-SA