By: by KSU Sports Information
NASHVILLE – Justine Young had 24 kills and Alyssa Lang had 20 digs as the Kennesaw State University volleyball team saw their season come to a close with a, 3-2 (17-25, 18-25, 25-23, 25-21, 15-10), loss to East Tennessee State in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Sun Conference Championships at Allen Arena Thursday night.
After the Owls (13-16) took the first two sets in commanding fashion, the Bucs rallied back to take the next two sets and force a fifth. The finale started with Young’s 20th kill of the night to give KSU the first point. Young tipped a ball off the block for her 21st kill and a 2-0 lead. ETSU’s next attack went wide, and the Owls led, 3-0. The lead would soon go away as an ETSU kill and two KSU miscues gave the Bucs the tie. After the teams swapped points, an ETSU service ace put KSU down a point. ETSU pushed the lead to three, 7-4, and after the teams swapped points, KSU asked for time down, 9-6.
ETSU (15-15) got the first point off the timeout, but a Baylee Strachan kill pulled the Owls within three, 10-7. ETSU committed an attack error to pull the Owls within two, but a KSU attack error gave the Bucs back the lead by three. Young got the Owls to within 11-9 on a kill, but again the Bucs answered with a kill and a block to send the Owls into their final timeout, down 13-9.
Young’s 24th kill of the night gave the Owls their 10th point of the set, but a kill by the Bucs gave ETSU four tries at match point. A jump ball at the net would give the Bucs the match, as KSU fell, 15-10.
The Owls set the early tone with a block on the first point of the match by Young and Strachan. Soon, KSU would find itself ahead, 9-3, after Holly Knight’s second ace of the set. ETSU would get as close as four from there, 11-7, but the Owls would continue to maintain control throughout the opening frame. Up 17-12, kills by Lang and Young brought the advantage up to seven. With KSU ahead, 23-17, Lang closed the set out with back-to-back kills to give the Owls the win, 25-17.
In the second set, the Owls trailed, 3-2, but used a 6-0 run to send ETSU into its first timeout. A dump by Sara Metroka started the run, and the sophomore stepped back to the service line to serve the next five points. KSU forced three ETSU hitting errors, two coming via blocks by Emily Bean and Knight, to score the first three points of the run. After another ETSU miscue, Bean fired home a kill down the middle to send the Bucs into the timeout.
ETSU scored the first point off the timeout, but a Bean kill got KSU the serve back. A service ace for Rachael Albright built the lead up to five, and an ETSU attack error got KSU the lead by six, 11-5. The lead would hover between four and six for the rest of the set, as the Owls continued to match ETSU point-for-point. Eventually, after Young’s 10th kill of the night, the Owls had six cracks at set point, up 24-18. One try would be all KSU would need as an ETSU attack error gave the Owls the set, 25-18.
The Bucs scored the first two points of the set, then stretched the lead up to three, 7-4, after a KSU attack error. The Owls cut the lead down to one, 7-6, after a kill by Strachan and an ETSU attack error. Down 8-7, the Owls knotted the set back up with a kill from Strachan. KSU would take its first lead of the set, 10-9, after an ETSU attack error. Young stretched the lead to two, 11-9, with a kill, and when Strachan’s next serve danced on the net before falling on the ETSU side, momentum was wearing Black and Gold. A long rally, featuring a pair of digs by Strachan, ended with Knight sending an attack through the fingertips of an ETSU back-row defender, and the Owls led, 13-9, with ETSU asking for time.
ETSU cut the led down to two, 15-13, but a Lang kill got the lead back to three. ETSU committed another attack error to get the lead back to four, but the Bucs would soon cut the lead down to one thanks to three KSU errors. ETSU would take the lead, 19-18, and force KSU into a timeout. The Bucs would win the timeout with a kill, but Strachan powered an attack into the back row to pull KSU back within a point, 20-19. An ETSU attack error tied the set back up, 20-all, but ETSU regained the lead with a kill. The teams swapped points again, with Young earning a pair of kills to keep KSU even with the Bucs. ETSU inched ahead, 23-22, but a Bean kill tied the set again. ETSU though, would get a crack at set point after a kill by Megan Devine. One crack would be all that was needed, as a service ace by the Bucs gave the No. 5 seed the set, 25-23.
In the fourth frame, the teams swapped the first seven points until an ETSU block gave the Bucs the lead, 5-3. The lead would stretch to four when ETSU earned back-to-back kills, sending KSU into a timeout.
The Owls took the first point off the timeout, but the Bucs took the next two to get the lead up to five, 11-6. A Young kill and a Strachan ace got KSU back within three, 11-8, and the teams swapped points. ETSU got the lead back to five points, 14-9, with another block, and the teams swapped points again. KSU got within three, 15-12, with a block, but the Bucs got the lead back to four again with a kill. Consecutive kills by Strachan pulled the Owls within a pair, 16-14, and ETSU asked for time.
A ball handing error off the timeout got KSU its 15th point, but a service error got ETSU the two-point lead again. The miscue started a mini-run for ETSU, as the Bucs scored the next two points to get the lead to four, 19-15, and send KSU into a timeout.
A hitting error gave ETSU point 20 out of the timeout, and two blocks stretched the lead to seven. Two Young kills made the score 23-18, but ETSU earned six tries at set point with a kill. KSU fought off the first with a block, and an ETSU hitting error gave KSU another point. When ETSU’s next attack went long, the Owls were down three, 24-21, and the Bucs asked for time. After a long rally, Young’s attack landed just long and the match was destined for set five.
