By: by Jason Hanes
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KENNESAW, Ga. - On a day when four seniors that built the Kennesaw State volleyball program were honored, the Owls earned their 10th win in Atlantic Sun Conference play for 2009 with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-11, 25-10) sweep of Stetson at the KSU Convocation Center Saturday afternoon.
"I'm so proud of the effort that our whole team had today, but especially our seniors," said KSU head coach
Karen Weatherington. "It was great to close things out at home on a high note. Stetson is a team that has had a lot of problems with illness and injuries, but thankfully, we continued to play at a championship level and can look ahead to clinching our spot in the A-Sun Championships next week."
Seniors
Chelsey Denesha,
Ginny Frederick, Selina O'Leary, and
Asjia Stokes all were honored before and after the match and each played a large role in KSU's victory. Stokes led all attackers with with 12 kills and a career-high five aces while Frederick earned her first double-double since her sophomore season with 30 assists and 10 digs. Denesha had a match-high 17 digs, and with her eight kills became the first player in KSU history to earn 250 kills and 250 digs in a season. O'Leary had 16 digs and became the first Owls player to tally 400 digs in a season.
KSU never let Stetson get anything going offensively. After the Hatters hit .200 in the first set, the Owls forced Stetson into negative figures in the final two frames. A big reason for that was the sophomore middle hitting duo of
Callie Churchwell and
Holly Knight. Churchwell had six total blocks, including three solo blocks, while Knight had four total blocks as KSU out-blocked the visitors by an 11-1 margin.
Another first in program history happened in the final set as the Owls did not allow Stetson to record a point on its serve. KSU successfully sided out the Hatters on all nine serves in the final set.
After the match, the four seniors were fully honored by Coach Weatherington and their teammates. Photos were presented by the KSU underclassmen, while Coach Weatherington and assistant coaches
Jing Hou and
Ashley Crenshaw presented framed jerseys to the four honorees. Coach Weatherington and the four seniors were then all given the opportunity to speak to the crowd and to the rest of the team.
The win allowed the Owls to keep pace with Campbell in the A-Sun standings, as the Camels defeated North Florida, 3-1, to improve to 10-8 in conference play. East Tennessee State upset Jacksonville to remain one match behind KSU and Campbell at 9-9, while Mercer upset Florida Gulf Coast, 3-1, to pull to 8-10 on the A-Sun season.
KSU's final two matches of the regular season will take place in Jacksonville, Fla., as the Owls will face Jacksonville this Friday at 7 p.m., before facing North Florida in the season finale at 3 p.m. Saturday
