By: by Jason Hanes
Box Score
TOLEDO, Ohio -
Chelsey Denesha recorded a double-double with 13 kills and a career-high 21 digs to lead Kennesaw State to a 3-2 (25-16, 25-18, 22-25, 22-25, 15-10) victory over Marist on Friday night in the opening match of the Staybridge Suites Rocket Classic hosted by the University of Toledo. For the Owls, it is the first time in program history that the team has won its first match of the season in the four-year history of the program.
"This team came out fighting from the first serve until the last ball dropped," said KSU head coach
Karen Weatherington, who won her coaching debut. "We battled and showed the character it takes to be successful."
After taking the first two sets, the Owls dropped the next two, setting up a race to 15 points with the Red Foxes to decide the match. The final set began with the teams trading the first three points, with Marist taking the first two-point lead after a kill made it 3-1.
Callie Churchwell came up with a kill then teamed with
Sabrita Gulley for a block to tie the score. Gulley then powered home a kill to give Owls a 4-3 lead. Marist came back to take the next two points and regain the lead, 5-4. Churchwell came up with another kill to tie the set, 5-all, but a Marist kill on an over ball gave the Red Foxes back the lead. After an ace made the score 7-5, a service error cut the lead for the Red Foxes down to one. An attack off the antenna by the Red Foxes tied the score at 7-all, but a kill by Marist saw the teams swap sides with the Red Foxes up 8-7.
Asjia Stokes drove home an attack to tie the set at 8-all after the changeover, but a net violation gave Marist back the lead. Denesha earned a kill to tie the set 9-all, and the Owls came up with a block by
Ginny Frederick and
Holly Knight to take a 10-9 lead and send Marist into its first timeout of the final set.
Marist used a block off the timeout to tie the score, 10-all. but Gulley came up with a kill to give KSU the 11-10 lead. An attack error by the Red Foxes on an attack just outside the line made the score 12-10 for KSU and Marist called its final timeout of the match.
A service ace from Knight gave KSU a three-point lead, and a kill by Churchwell gave the Owls match point, 14-10. Looking at match point, a block by Churchwell and Frederick gave the Owls the historic 15-10 win.
"This team left it all on the court in the fifth set," said Coach Weatherington. "I challenged Sabrita and Callie to play with agression but intelligence. Those two, along with Chelsey and Ginny really showed a lot of grit in the final set."
KSU dominated the match in many statistical facets, hitting at an impressive .318 clip and out-blocking the Red Foxes 10-2. The Owls recorded just 13 attack errors, their fewest-ever in a five-set match. The Red Foxes managed three more kills, leading the Owls by a 64-61 margin, and also had six more digs than the Owls (70-64).
Gulley led the Owls with 16 kills, followed by Denesha's 13 and Stokes' 12. Knight had seven kills, four total blocks, and three aces in her debut with the Owls, while Churchwell had seven kills and a match-high five total blocks.
"We worked very hard in preseason, and it's very rewarding to see it pay off on the court," said Stokes, who has been playng for the Owls ever since the opening match in 2006. "All of us seniors want to go out on a high note and today was the first step towards doing just that."
Marist was led by Joanna Foss, who recorded a double-double of her own with 21 kills and 15 digs. Alexandra Schultze had 17 kills and 10 digs. In the process, Schultze became Marist's all-time leader in kills.
The Owls earned the first point of the 2009 season off a Marist attack error. The first kill for the Owls happened one point later and was earned by Stokes. Another attack long gave KSU a three-point lead, and when Denesha's first attack of the year landed on the back line, the Owls led 4-0. A Marist attack error and a service ace for Gulley gave KSU lead and sent the Red Foxes into the first timeout of the year.
Marist won the first point off the timeout to stop the KSU run. The teams traded points back-and-forth, until Marist won three straight points to cut the lead to two. The run was stopped on an emphatic kill by Stokes, with the senior earning an ace on the next serve to extend the lead to five, 10-5. An attack error by Marist pushed KSU's lead back to six, and the teams traded points again. Churchwell dropped home an attack to keep the momentum going, and an attack error sent Marist into its second timeout of the set down 14-6.
A service error gave Marist the first point off the timeout, but Marist committed another attack error to give KSU its 15th point. The Owls worked the lead up to nine, but the Red Foxes rallied to cut the lead down to six, but the Owls earned a point off a Stokes kill to regain a seven-point lead. The Owls pushed the lead up to 10 when Knight dropped a kill inside the service line, making the score 23-13.
With nine set points in hand, the Owls dropped the two attempts, but a service error by the Red Foxes gave the Owls the first set, 25-16, marking the first time the Owls had won a set in the season opener in program history.
Marist gained the early momentum in the second set, taking three of the first four points. KSU clawed back winning the longest rally of the match on a kill by Knight to knot the score, 4-all. Knight gave KSU its first lead of the second set with her second straght kill, and the lead stretched to three with back-to-back solo blocks by Stokes, making the score 7-4. Marist battled back with three straight points to tie the set, but Stokes earned another kill to give the Owls back the lead. The teams then traded points until Marist won three straight to take a 12-10 lead and send KSU into its first timeout of the year.
KSU took the first point off the timeout, but the teams began trading points again. The Owls worked into a 16-16 tie and four points later, took a 19-17 lead after back-to-back aces by Knight, forcing Marist to ask for time.
Marist took the first point off a blocking error, but a Churchwell kill stopped the Red Foxes. An attack error gave the Owls a 21-18 lead and Marist asked for its last timeout of the set.
Marist's first attack off the timeout connected with the antenna, as the run continued for the Owls. Denesha dropped in her third kill of the match to pull KSU within two points of the set. After an attack error by Marist gave KSU a set point opportunity, the Owls closed out the set in style, getting a kill from
Chanel Davis to close the set on a 6-0 run and give the Owls a 25-18 win in the set.
The Owls trailed 4-3 in the set, but a 4-0 run by KSU staked the Owls to a three-point lead. The Red Foxes cut the lead to one, but Denesha gave the Owls a two-point edge with a kill. An attack error pushed KSU's lead back to three, but Marist kept trying to come back. After an attack error by the Owls, Marist had tied the score, 13-all. The teams battled, with the Owls finally winning consecutive points to take a 17-15 lead and send Marist into a timeout.
The teams traded points off the timeout until Marist went on a rally, winning four straight points to take a 20-19 lead and send the Owls into a timeout. The Red Foxes took the first point off the timeout to take a two-point lead, but a service error gave the Owls the serve back down a point. Marist earned a kill to get the lead back to two, but an attack error brought KSU within a point again and sent the Red Foxes into their final timeout of the set, up 22-21. Marist would earn two points off the timeout, to take a 24-21 lead, sending the Owls into their final timeout of the set.
Off the timeout and down three set points, the Owls came back to fight off one set point after a Knight kill, but couldn't quite pull off the rally, falling 25-22.
Marist opened the fourth set like the third, taking three of the first four points, but the Owls quickly erased the deficit to tie the set. The Owls would on a run to take the lead, pushing the lead to four at 10-6 and forcing Marist into a timeout.
A solo block by Churchwell gave the Owls a five-point lead after the timeout. Gulley notched another kill to give let the Owls double up the Red Foxes, 12-6.
Marist whittled the lead down once again, tying the score at 16-all and taking the lead one point later. Another Marist kill extended the run for Marist and sent the Owls into a timeout down 18-16. The Red Foxes took the first point off the timeout, but the Owls cut the lead down to two off a Stokes kill. Stokes came up with a big ace to cut the lead to one, but the Red Foxes scored the next point to get a 20-18
lead. With the Owls down 21-18, KSU earned the next two points to pull within a point and send Marist into its last timeout of the set.
Marist won the first point off the timeout, but Gulley pulled KSU within a point again with a kill. Again Marist answered with a point, getting a block to make the score 23-21 and send KSU into its last timeout.
A block by Denesha and Churchwell gave the Owls the first point after the 60-second stoppage. A block by Marist gave the Red Foxes set point, and after a service ace, Marist had evened the match at two sets all with a 25-22 win in the fourth.
"We came out in sync offensively in the first two sets," said Coach Weatherington. "Statistically, the third set was our best match, but full credit has to go to Marist for battling back. Our team losing sets three and four wasn't a result of us playing poorly, but was more a result of Marist playing so well."
The Owls will be back in action tomorrow at 12 p.m. as they face Bryant in the third match of the Staybridge Suites Rocket Classic.
