By: by Jason Hanes
FORT MYERS, Fla. - A spot in the finals of the Atlantic Sun Conference Volleyball Championships will be on the line Friday night at 7:30 p.m. as the Kennesaw State volleyball team tries to top East Tennessee State. Live video will be available for free via
ASun.TV, and a live blog will be available on KSUOwls.com.
"Our team is chomping at the bit to play," said KSU head coach and 2010 A-Sun Coach of the Year Karen Weatherington. "Since arriiving in Fort Myers, we have had some of the best practices we have had in my two years with the program. We are excited to be facing a very good opponent in East Tennessee State. We have achieved many of our goals as a team, but there are still goals left out there for us to reach."
The Owls (17-10) enter tonight's second semifinal match as the No. 2 seed in the A-Sun Championships. By virtue of a 9-1 mark in A-Sun play, the Owls earned a bye into the semifinals of the tournament. ETSU (24-7), the No. 3 seed in the tournament, earned its slot in the semifinals by defeating No. 6 North Florida, 3-0, Thursday night.
Tongiht's match will be a rematch of a thrilling, 3-1, win for the Owls back on Nov. 5. In that contest, the Owls lost the first set, but stormed back to sweep the last three, 25-22, 25-15, 25-22. First Team All-Conference honoree Sabrita Gulley led the Owls with 14 kills on the night, with Grace Hoyt chipping in 11. All-Freshman team honorees Sara Metroka and Camille Pedraza had big nights for the Owls, with Metroka falling just shy of a double-double with 37 assists and nine digs and Pedraza notching a match-high 19 digs.
Back on Nov. 5, ETSU had a pair of double-double performances, with A-Sun Freshman of the Year Megan Devine tallying 10 kills and 18 digs and Lauren Baufield earning 14 kills and 11 digs. While ETSU finished the season as the top-blocking team in the A-Sun, both ETSU and KSU had 11 blocks that night.
Friday night's match will mark the first time the two teams have met on a neutral court. ETSU has a 4-3 lead in the all-time series, but the Owls have won the last two matches.
The Owls qualified for the A-Sun Championships last season, the first year the program was eligible for post-season play. As the No. 5 seed in the tournament, the Owls would fall in three sets to No. 4 Belmont.
"That experience of last year will help us out greatly this year," said coach Weatherington. "A lot of our team didn't know what to expect going into the tournament. Now, we are fully prepared and realize what it will take to move forward this year."
If the Owls win Friday night, they will play the winner of the first semifinal match between No. 1 Lipscomb and No. 4 Belmont. First serve in Saturday's championship match is scheduled for 3 p.m.
