STARKVILLE, Miss. – It took a combined nine sets but the Kennesaw State volleyball team is coming home 3-0 after taking down both Jackson State and Mississippi State in the final day of competition in the Maroon Classic.
The Owls remain undefeated with their three wins during the opening weekend and return to Kennesaw, Ga. with the championship trophy in tow, the first outright tournament win in program history.
“It was such a great way to start the season,” said Kennesaw State head coach Karen Weatherington. “Even the kids we didn’t have in the game were great. I couldn’t ask for more.”
Sara Metroka (New Castle, Ind./New Castle Chrysler High School) was named tournament MVP after a combined 137 assists and 14 kills. Libero
Camille Pedraza (Marietta, Ga./Kell High School) earned All-Tournament honors with 78 digs, including a single game career high of 31 in the championship match.
“We executed our plays and displayed classic leadership,” added Weatherington. “Sara did such a great job distributing the ball and made smart decisions. Turea (Jones) was huge like we knew she could be and Keyaira (Stevenson) added the spark we needed; then Baylee (Strachan) was steady as always.”
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The Owls clinched the Maroon Classic Championship in a five set thriller over Southeastern Conference opponent Mississippi State, 3-2 (23-25, 25-18, 25-23, 21-25, 15-11), to remain perfect on the year.
KSU trailed just once in the fifth set, 6-5, but came back with two straight points to go up for good on two Bulldog errors.
Keyaira Stevenson (Columbia, S.C./Ridgeview High School) then swung home the championship with a kill from Metroka to seal the deal.
A competitive first set went to the Bulldogs, 25-23, after the Owls came out swinging to a 3-1 lead.
Turea Jones (Santa Rosa, Calif./Santa Rosa JC) then fired away with three straight kills midway through to put KSU up, 16-12. But four blocks by the Bulldogs down the stretch put the home team up in the match, 1-0.
With set two tied at 14 it was
Emily Bean (Indianapolis, Ind./Pike High School) who pulled through for the Owls, picking up two kills and a block, one of eight on the match, to put Kennesaw State up by three. Jones then made it a third straight double-double with a cross court shot to end the set in favor of the Owls, 25-18.
In a dramatic third set, the Owls were forced to take a timeout down 20-18. Following the break in action, KSU went off for three straight points on three straight Mississippi State attack errors to put the score at 22-22. Two
Baylee Strachan (Sioux City, Iowa/Winthrop) kills then gave KSU the 25-23 set win.
With the match in hand late in the fourth set, the Bulldogs put up a fight, outscoring the Owls 9-1 to take it, 25-21. Mississippi State capped off an emotional run with five straight points including three straight aces by Alex Scott.
Jones was tops with 18 kills and 21 digs while Strachan added 15 as well.
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Jackson State posed no problem in the early morning match for the Kennesaw State volleyball team as the Owls cruised to the 3-1 (25-9, 22-25, 25-14, 25-20) win over the Tigers in game number two of the Mississippi State Maroon Classic.
The Owls now sit at 2-0 after taking down last year’s Southwestern Athletic Conference Champions and NCAA Postseason Tournament qualifier Jackson State, who falls to 0-2.
In the final set, the Owls fell back in the early goings, 6-2, but scrounged from behind to tie it up at eight with a pair of Strachan kills. Up late in the set, 24-16, the Tigers kept the Owls at bay, scoring four straight and forcing a KSU timeout at 24-20 before Strachan put the match away at 25-20. Strachan came through in the crunch, giving the Owls five kills in the fourth set alone.
“It was just good to see another great team win,” said Weatherington. “We faced a quality, championship caliber team and we made a conscious team effort to keep their big players at bay.”
The big player was senior outside hitter Christine Edwards, who was held to just six kills and a .000 attack percentage for the match.
It was a slow start for the Tigers in set number one, as JSU committed five attack errors right out of the gate, followed up by a Jones kill to put the Owls
up, 6-1. A 5-0 run then extended the already big KSU lead with four more Jackson State errors and a Strachan kill to make it a 14-5 set. The Owls then ended things with another five point run to take it, 25-9.
Set two was a battle for the Owls, who took the first two points before allowing the Tigers to tie it up at two. A JSU service ace then put the Tigers up by one as they never relinquished the lead, taking the set, 25-22.
The third set again went the way of the Owls in decisive fashion, 25-14. Bean forced the Tigers to take the early time out as her third ace of the game put KSU up, 10-6. The owls then rattled off five straight with a Strachan kill topping things off to make it 16-8. Jones then ended the set on consecutive kills from setter Metroka.
“Sara had another terrific game,” said Weatherington of her junior setter. “She spread the ball well and gave our attackers a lot of chances to be successful.”
Metroka ended the match with 32 assists and six kills.
Pedraza was one of three Owls in double-digit digs with 15, tying for the match lead with teammate
Jenna Wilt (Woodstock, Ga./Etowah High School).
Jones again put up a double-double effort, her second in as many games, slamming home 14 kills with 11 digs.
The Owls will take a brief rest this week before heading out to the Savannah State Tournament on Aug. 3-Sept. 4, in Savannah, Ga.
Keep up with Owls volleyball this year by following KSU on Twitter at
@KSUOwlNation and
@KSUOWLSVB, or by liking Kennesaw State Owls on Facebook..
