By: by KSU Sports Information
BOONE, N.C. - Holly Knight had nine kills as the Kennesaw State volleyball team fell, 3-0 (25-22, 25-15, 25-19), to North Carolina State at the Appalachian Invitational. The match was the first match for the Owls against an Atlantic Coast Conference opponent in program history.
"Our effort was better at times this afternoon than it was this morning," said KSU head coach Karen Weatherington. "This was a good building block for our program to see what it takes to be competitive on a nightly basis against schools from conferences like the ACC. We'll learn from this and come back ready to play tomorrow."
The Owls (0-3) got off to another slow start in the first set, falling behind 9-2 thanks in large part to six attack errors. The Owls managed to rally back from an eight-point deficit, using a litany of N.C. State hitting errors to cut the lead to four, 15-11. The Owls kept it close from there, trimming the lead to three off a Camille Pedraza ace. The Owls got the lead down to one, 19-18, after an Emily Bean ace, and when the Wolfpack committed a hitting error, the score was tied at 19.
KSU grabbed its first lead of the match when Justine Young and Knight teamed for a block. After an N.C. State timeout, the Owls answered with another block to build the lead to two, 21-19.
The Wolfpack (2-1) rallied back, taking the lead, 22-21, after a block and a KSU attack error. Following a KSU timeout, the teams swapped points, with N.C. State earning a set poitn chance off a KSU service error. After a long rally, a kill gave N.C. State set one, 25-22.
The Owls led briefly in the second set, 3-2, after a Young kill, but the lead would be short lived. An 8-1 run by N.C. State put the Owls down, 10-4, and KSU would never seriously challenge in the set again. KSU would lose the second set, 25-15, to fall behind in the best-of-five 2-0.
KSU took the first point of set three after a block by Lang and Chadé Martin. Knight took control of the front row with a pair of kills, and after a pair of hitting errors by the Wolfpack, the Owls had built an 8-4 lead.
N.C. State would trim the lead to one, 8-7, with three straight points, the last of which came when an official whistled a KSU blocking error that capped a 60-second rally. Following a KSU timeout, N.C. State knotted the score, 8-8, and the teams swapped points. With the score tied, 15-15, after a Metroka kill, N.C. State scored the next three points and would never trail again. The Wolfpack finished the match on a 10-4 run, winning the final set, 25-19.
Knight also led the Owls in blocks with four. Pedraza led the Owls in digs with 10.
Margaret Salata had 10 kills for N.C. State to lead all offensive players. Kelly Wood had 12 digs for the Wolfpack.
The Owls will remain in Boone, N.C., for an extra day to face William & Mary in a match just added to the schedule. Match time is scheduled for 10 a.m.
