By: by KSU Sports Information
KENNESAW, Ga. - Justine Young tallied 17 kills and Alyssa Lang and Holly Knight each hit over .360 as the Kennesaw State volleyball team held off a furious rally by Winthrop, 3-2 (25-23, 25-23, 23-25, 19-25, 15-10) in the home opener for the Owls.
"We had great leadership from our seniors in the fifth set," said KSU head coach Karen Weatherington. "Justine and Holly stepped up big for us in the end to lift our team to the win."
Lang had 15 kills and just two errors for a .361 attack percentage, in addition to 21 digs for her second straight double-double of the season. Knight had a new career high with 13 kills, and after going without a block in the first four sets, collected four total blocks in the final set to go with two aces.
The Owls (2-3) trailed early in set five, 4-2, but a kill by Young and a block by Baylee Strachan and Emily Bean knotted the score, 4-4. After a Winthrop (3-1) attack error, Knight's next serve danced across the top of the tape before gently falling on the Winthrop side for a service ace and a 6-4 lead.
Winthrop would come back to tie the score at 7, but after Young powered home a kill, the Owls would never lose the lead. Lang's 145h kill of the match put KSU up 10-8, and the Owls kept pushing points. Knight and Lang teamed for a block to send the lead up to three, 11-8, and after a Winthrop point, Knight combined on blocks with Sara Metroka and with Alyssa Lang to give KSU a 13-9 lead.
Winthrop would get the lead back to three, 13-10, but that was as close as the visitors would get. Knight knocked home her 13th and final kill of the match to give KSU match point, 14-10, then one point later, Knight and Young closed out the match with a block for a, 15-10, win.
In the first set, the Owls led 20-15, but a 6-1 run by the Eagles knotted the score at 21. KSU would use a three-point spurt, with two kills coming from Young, to get set point at 24-21. While the Eagles would fight off two tries to win the set, Young closed out the set with a kill for a 25-23 win.
The second set played very similarly to the first. The teams split the first 46 points, setting the stage for what amounted to a two-point set. Young gave KSU the lead, 24-23, with a kill, and with set point in hand, Bean earned the set-winning point with a kill.
The Owls were two points away from winning the match in three sets, as KSU led, 23-19, after a Knight ace. Winthrop would land a staggering blow to the Owls, winning six straight points to take the third set, 25-23. The Eagles would take advantage of new life, going on a 6-0 run in the fourth set to lead, 20-13, and win, 25-19, to force the decisive fifth set.
The match was very balanced statistically, with both teams recording 64 kills. The Owls had just one more dig than Winthrop (81-80) while Winthrop had only two more blocks than KSU (10.0-8.0) Both Metroka and Winthrop's Stephanie Palmer had 51 assits. One large turning point proved to be in aces, as the Owls had 12 as a team, led by Bean's three, to Winthrop's five.
The Owls will return to action at 10 a.m. Saturday when they face Chattanooga in the third match of the 2011 Owls Invitational. The Mocs dropped a straight-sets decision to Oral Roberts in the opening match of the Invitational earlier Friday afternoon.
