By: by Jason Hanes
NASHVILLE - Kennesaw State's volleyball team staggered Belmont by taking the first two sets, but eventually it was the visiting team that fell, dropping a 3-2 (21-25, 16-25, 25-17, 25-17, 15-7) decision at the Curb Event Center in Atlantic Sun Conference play Friday night.
"We have to do a better job of finishing off matches," said KSU head coach Karen Weatherington. "We have to keep a high level of intensity from the first serve until the last ball drops. The result of not keeping that intensity is what we saw tonight."
The Owls fell behind 8-1 in the opening set before roaring back to drop the Bruins in the opener, 25-21. Sabrita Gulley had four kills in the set to lead the KSU attack.
The second set was all KSU as well, as the Owls took advantage of seven attack errors and four service errors by Belmont en route to the 25-16 win. The nine-point differential matched the second-biggest margin of victory in a set by the Owls this season.
But as quickly as things went well for the Owls, things turned south just as fast. KSU was tied with Belmont in the third set, 13-13, but the Bruins went on a 12-4 run to close the set and win 25-17. The Owls trailed 10-3 in the fourth set and never recovered, falling 25-17. In the finale, Belmont took nine of the first 11 en route to the 15-7 win.
"Belmont has traditionally been one of the toughest teams in the A-Sun, so it's encouraging that we were able to compete with them," said Coach Weatherington. "But there is a difference between competing and winning, and we have to learn to fight to make that difference."
The Owls (7-5, 2-3) will stay in Nashville for a 2 p.m. CDT contest with Lipscomb Saturday afternoon.
Note: Final statistics for this match will not be available until Monday.
