By: by Jason Hanes
Box Score
FORT MYERS, Fla. - Baylee Strachan had seven total blocks and Alyssa Lang had her third straight double-double as the Kennesaw State volleyball team kept a grip on second place in the Atlantic Sun Conference with a, 3-1 (26-24, 15-25, 25-13, 25-14), win over Florida Gulf Coast at Alico Arena.
"Wins on the road in conference play are always difficult, and tonight was no different," said KSU head coach Karen Weatherington. "Our middle hitters really stepped up and helped us to control the play at the net. This was one of our best blocking efforts of the season, and everyone really performed well to help keep our momentum going in a positive direction."
The Owls (11-9, 4-1 A-Sun) led 24-19 in the first set, but saw FGCU rattle off five straight points to tie things up, 24-24. With the set in doubt, senior Sabrita Gulley played like a senior. Gulley powered home a pair of kills, giving the Owls the opening frame, 26-24.
While FGCU rolled to a win in the second set, the Owls rolled throughout the remainder of the match. KSU hit .312 in the third set, committing only two errors in the frame. Gulley recorded KSU's final four points of the set on kills as the Owls won, 25-13. In the fourth set, it was more of the same as the Owls jumped out to an 11-4 lead and never led by fewer than four points the rest of the way en route to the 25-14 win.
The Owls made great strides on the serve of Knight, who had four service aces. The Owls won eight points on Knight's serve in the first set and nine on the junior's serve in the final set. Combined with last season's match in the A-Sun Quarterfinals against Belmont, Knight has now recorded 17 kills without an error in her last two matches at Alico Arena, including seven tonight. "Holly has been solid for us all season long, but she doesn't always get the credit she deserves. Tonight, she was amazing for us in all facets of the game."
Lang and Gulley each had 14 kills, while Lang converted the double-double with 11 digs. Junior Turea Jones had 15 digs, while freshman Camille Pedraza had 13.
Chelsea Lyles and Emma Racila each had 10 kills for FGCU (4-14, 1-3 A-Sun).
The Owls will be back in action Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. when they face Stetson in an A-Sun contest. First serve is set for 3 p.m. in DeLand, Fla., with live audio on KSUOwls.com available five minutes before first serve.
