By: by Jason Hanes
Box Score
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - In a match that lived up to the hype worthy of the Atlantic Sun Conference's "Match of the Week" Sabrita Gulley's match-high 21 kills helped the Kennesaw State volleyball team gut out a 3-2 (25-23, 21-25, 25-23, 33-35, 15-8) victory over East Tennessee State on Saturday night, pushing the Owls into fifth place in the A-Sun.
"I am very proud of the effort of my team tonight," said KSU head coach Karen Weatherington. "This team has matured so much emotionally and mentally just in the last few weeks. We played a very good ETSU team that might have the best setter in the A-Sun, and we were able to find a way to get the win."
Chelsey Denesha had her second consecutive double-double, putting down 19 kills while digging up 10 ETSU attacks. The senior from Watertown, N.Y., came within two assists of a triple-double, earning eight.
Gulley followed up her 14-kill performance at Campbell one night earlier with a match-high 21. Senior Asjia Stokes also added 21 kills for the Owls, who had 79 kills as a team.
The final set was close early, but with four seniors on the court down the stretch, experience and desire took over for the Owls. Leading 9-8, the Owls (13-9, 8-7) went on a 6-0 run to close out the match. Gulley started the run with a kill, and KSU would win the next five points on the junior's serve. Senior setter Ginny Frederick had four assists in the run, but Stokes had KSU's three final kills, including capping off a long rally on match point to give the Owls the 15-8 win.
"After the fourth set, it was almost like we decided we had been playing long enough," said Coach Weatherington. "Our girls were determined to finished the match and leave it all out there, win or lose."
One week after playing what had been the longest set in the 25-point era for the program, a 31-29 win in the fourth set against Belmont, the Owls lost set four, 35-33. With both teams moving through the rotation rapidly, the Owls eventually ran out of substitutions, forcing Coach Weatherington to leave in Eman Burns, who stands 5-feet-7-inches tall, in to play the front row. Burns did her part, managing to get her hands on an ETSU attack late in the set to allow the Owls to get a dig behind her and eventually a kill.
"I really think the job Eman did on the front row gave our team a lift," said Coach Weatherington. "If the set didn't end when it did, we were one rotation away from having our two shortest players on the front row."
The Owls trailed the first set, 23-19, but the Owls stole the set with a stunning 6-0 run. After an ETSU service error, Holly Knight served out the set for KSU. An ace by Knight tied the score at 23-all, then after a kill by Asjia Stokes, a solo block by Chanel Davis gave the Owls the 25-23 win in the set.
The Owls dropped the second set 25-21, but were able to hold on to take the third frame, 25-23. The Owls led 22-14, but a massive run by ETSU (8-15, 6-8) brought the Buccaneers within a point, 24-23. Gulley would make the big play for the Owls, putting home an attack after a Frederick set for a kill to give the Owls the win in the set.
Selina O'Leary led all defenders with 22 digs. The senior libero now has 355 digs this season and is averaging 3.99 digs per set.
With her 21 kills, Stokes became the first KSU volleyball player to go over the 300-kill mark for the season. Her first kill of the night broke a tie with Gulley for most kills in a season by a KSU volleyball player, as Gulley had 284 her junior year.
"Asjia really turned it on for us as the match progressed," said Coach Weatherington. "She started out hitting in negative numbers after the first set, but she had 18 kills over the next four sets and only had four errors the rest of the way."
More KSU records fell in the match as Callie Churchwell became the school's single-season blocks leader with 79, moving past Lindsay Plotner who had 75 in 2007. Churchwell is now also the school's career blocks record holder with 142.
But while individual records are nice, the 13th win of the season for the Owls also moves the team into a tie for fifth in the A-Sun with Belmont. If the season were to end today, the Owls would own the tiebreaker with the Bruins as KSU won in four sets over Belmont, while Belmont defeated KSU earlier in the season in five sets. With Campbell's loss at home to Mercer, the Owls now trail the Camels by one-half match for fourth place. The Owls would own a head-to-head tiebreaker with the Camels as KSU swept Campbell last Friday night, while Campbell defeated KSU in four sets in the first meeting of the year.
Winners of four of their last five matches, the Owls will step out of conference play for the final time this season as the Owls will face Chattanooga this Wednesday at at 7 p.m. in Chattanooga, Tenn.
