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KENNESAW, Ga. – For the first time this season the Kennesaw State volleyball team dropped a five set match, this one a 3-2 (25-22, 18-25, 12-25, 25-11, 15-8) loss to Atlantic Sun Conference rival Mercer in front of a season high 638 fans.
Kennesaw State drops to 15-9 overall and 4-5 in the A-Sun while the Bears jump to 8-11 on the season and 4-5 in league play.
“I’m proud of my team for such a hard fought match,” said Kennesaw State head coach
Karen Weatherington. “The intensity went back and forth so much and we ended up just missing on a couple of balls that we wanted to run in our system and they just didn’t fall our way.
The match ending fifth set went the way of the Bears after Mercer pulled out to a 7-2 lead. A KSU timeout brought the home team within five at 10-5 on a
Keyaira Stevenson (Columbia, S.C./Ridgeview HS) kill. Mercer then took control down the stretch, ending the match with a 15-8 set win.
The black and gold went up in the match early on, winning the opening set 25-22 with nine combined kills from Stevenson and senior
Turea Jones (Santa Rosa, Calif./Santa Rosa JC). The Owls capitalized on three Bear attack errors in the last five points.
With the second set tied 10-10, the Bears went on a 4-0 run to take the lead. The Owls managed to cut the deficit to 21-17, but Mercer scored the last four points of the set to end things 25-18.
The Bears came out swinging in the third set, pulling ahead to a 20-12 lead after seven KSU attack errors. Jennifer Katona then put Mercer up 2-1 in the match with a kill from Monica Sanchez.
It was Kennesaw State who came out on fire in the fourth set, running up a 4-0 score on the Bears with kills by Jones and
Emily Bean (Indianapolis, Ind./Pike HS). Two more 4-0 runs by the Owls would give KSU a 25-11 set win, sending the match to a decisive fifth set.
Stevenson led the way for the black and gold offense, totaling 14 kills, while senior
Baylee Strachan (Sioux City, Iowa/Winthrop) was right behind with 13 and a team high .276 attack percentage. Jones was the third Owl in double-digit kills with her 11.
“Camille (Pedraza) had another solid game for us,” said Weatherington of her junior libero. “She really kept us going out there and kept her teammate’s heads up and kept us in our rhythm.”
Pedraza (Marietta, Ga./Kell HS) led both teams with 23 digs to go with her four assists. Setter Sara Metroka (New Castle, Ind./New Castle Chrysler HS) put up 43 assists with four kills in five attempts.
The Owls will break until Tuesday when they host ETSU in a 7 p.m. match.
To keep up with the latest Kennesaw State volleyball news follow the team on Twitter
@KSUOwlNation and
@KSUOwlsVB or by liking Kennesaw State University Volleyball on Facebook.
Kennesaw State University is celebrating 30 years of intercollegiate athletics during the 2012-13 academic year.
Around the A-Sun
Lipscomb 3, Stetson 0
Florida Gulf Coast 3, Northern Kentucky 1
ETSU 3, North Florida 1
USC Upstate 3, Jacksonville 0
