KENNESAW, Ga. – The Kennesaw State volleyball team added another mile marker in its already historic season as the Owls defeated Troy, 3-1 (16-25, 25-21, 25-20,25-23), to take KSU’s second outright tournament championship in 2012.
The Owls defeated North Carolina Central, Tennessee State, Tennessee-Chattanooga and Troy in back-to-back days in the KSU Convocation Center, taking the KSU Owls Invitational and moving to 8-3 on the year.
Senior Baylee Strachan (Sioux City, Iowa/Winthrop) was named Tournament MVP after a stellar 38 kill, 13 block weekend that saw the middle blocker hit .338 over the four games.
Keyaira Stevenson (Columbia, S.C./Ridgeview High School) was named to the All-Tournament Team as well after picking up a team high 53 kills with a .324 attack percentage, the first All-Tournament nod of her career.
BOX SCORE (XML)|BOX SCORE (PDF)
After dropping the opening set to Troy, KSU came out in full force to take the outright championship win over the Trojans, grabbing the final three sets for the 3-1 (16-25, 25-21, 25-20, 25-23) victory.
The Owls wasted no time in the second set, leaping out to a 13-7 lead after losing set one by 9 points. Turea Jones (Santa Rosa, Calif./Santa Rosa JC) recorded the clinching kill with an assist from Sara Metroka (New Castle, Ind./New Castle Chrysler High School), one of her 45 for the match.
KSU had to fight from behind in set three, overcoming a three point deficit to tie the match up at 11 with a 9-0 run midway through. An attack error late by the Trojans would give KSU the set, 25-20.
In the clincher it was all Owls as a pair of attack errors by Troy gave KSU the 12-7 advantage. With a slight 21-20 lead late in the set, the Trojans allowed the Owls to take the last four points to win the set and the match, 25-23.
Three Owls accumulated double-digit kills in the championship affair including Stevenson and Jones with 14 and Strachan with 11.
Emily Bean (Indianapolis, Ind./Pike High School) went up for three block assists in the six total for KSU on the night. Also aiding in the defensive effort was libero Camille Pedraza (Marietta, Ga./Kell High School) with 23 digs.
BOX SCORE (XML)|BOX SCORE (PDF)
Jones recorded a double-double with 13 kills and 13 digs to lead the Kennesaw State women's volleyball team to a 3-1 victory over the University of Tennessee Chattanooga during Day 2 of the KSU Owls Classic at the KSU Convocation Center.
The Owls won by scores of 25-21, 25-12, 22-25, 25-11.
Joining Jones with double-figure kill totals for Kennesaw State were Stevenson and Bean, who recorded 17 and 11 kills, respectively.
The Owls were the only undefeated team at the KSU Invitational and will now head to Charlotte, N.C. on a four game win streak to take part in the 49er Invitational.
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