By: by Jason Hanes
Box Score
MACON, Ga. - Selina O'Leary set a new Kennesaw State record with 27 digs in a match as the KSU volleyball team moved into a tie for sixth place in the Atlantic Sun Conference with a 3-1 (25-18, 23-25, 25-19, 25-15) win over in-state rival Mercer Tuesday night at the University Center. The win gives the Owls 10 victories in a season for the first time in program history.
The previous record of 23, held by Jenny Black, had stood since 2006, the first year of the KSU program.
Chelsey Denesha tied the record Sept. 8 of this year in the first meeting of the season with Mercer. But tonight, two Owls broke the record as KSU's senior libero was joined over the threshhold by sophomore setter
Rachael Albright, who had 26 digs of her own.
"Selina was just in the zone," said KSU head coach
Karen Weatherington. " Digging and ball control were the keys [to our win] tonight. We passed the ball so well and had our defense set up perfectly to help us take care of the ball, and Selina was a huge part of that. Mercer was much more aggressive in their attacking tonight than they were earlier this year, so we made some adjustments and stayed in our game plan throughout the match."
KSU (10-8, 5-6) was led offensively by
Sabrita Gulley, who knocked down 21 kills while also earning 16 digs of her own to complete a double-double.
Asjia Stokes fell just short of a double-double with 14 kills and nine digs, while Denesha continued to creep closer to triple-double range, recording 14 kills, seven assists, and eight digs.
"Chelsey was commanding the whole court," said Coach Weatherington. "She showed great leadership. In the fourth set, we started getting her the ball more because we could tell she was open most of the night. Our outside hitters did a very good job communicating with each other on the court, letting each other know where the open spots were to attack."
The Owls dominated each of the three sets they won, and very nearly won the second set, which they lost 25-23. In the first set, the Owls led 15-14 before going on a 10-4 run to close the set out. In the second set, the Owls were tied 21-21 with the Bears before Mercer (5-14, 3-8) scored three straight points to take a 24-21 lead. The Owls saved two set points thanks to two kills by Gulley, but Mercer would sneak away with a 25-23 win after a successful attack by the home team.
With the score knotted 11-11 in the third set, the Owls went on a 9-0 run to take a 20-11 lead. Gulley had five kills in the run to spark the Owls. The Bears came back to trim the lead to three, 22-19, but a kill by Stokes and two attack errors by the Bears gave the Owls the third set, 25-19.
The fourth set was tied just once, with that coming at 1-1. Mercer only earned two points on its serve in the fourth set, as KSU sided out Mercer at an 87 percent clip. Denesha had seven of her kills in the final set, while Gulley had four kills without an error in five attempts. The Owls hit .378 in the 25-15 win in the fourth set, with just two errors on 37 swings.
For the match, the Owls had 109 digs, a new program record. Gulley's 21 kills mark the fourth time this season that the junior has reached the 20-kill mark.
The Owls also swept the I-75 Showdown with Mercer for the first time in program history. KSU had never defeated Mercer on the volleyball court before this season.
KSU will return home to face Lipscomb and Belmont this weekend, with the Bisons visiting the KSU Convocation Center this Friday at 7 p.m. "Lipscomb is the best team in our conference," said Coach Weatherington. "We didn't play our best match in Nashville against Lipscomb earlier this year, but we are going to come out and be competitive and let the ball fall where it may."
