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HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Despite hitting a season-high .276, the Kennesaw State volleyball team couldn't pull of an Atlantic Sun Conference win on the road as Northern Kentucky took the five-set win, 3-2 (23-25, 25-18, 28-26, 25-15, 8-15), on Friday night in historic Regents Hall.
 
KSU, now 7-10 overall and 2-5 in the A-Sun, saw a slew of individual standout performances including 21 kills from freshman Kelly Marcinek and the third double-double of the season from Toure Hopkins as the sophomore put up 13 kills and 13 digs.
 
The senior trio of Sara Metroka, Emily Bean and Camille Pedraza also impressed, Metroka earning a season-high 60 assists, the third time in her career she has reached the 60-assists plateau, while Bean compiled her third double-double with 15 kills and 12 digs to go with her career-high four service aces and Pedraza coming up with a game-best 23 digs.
 
In the final set of the match it was KSU that  went out to the 2-0 lead on kills from Bean and Hopkins, but NKU (7-12, 2-5 A-Sun) rallied back, going on a 4-0 run and never looking back as the Norse took the 15-8 set win.
 
The Owls tried to rally late in the first, down 24-21, rattling off consecutive points to come within one at 24-23, before the Norse took an early match lead with the 25-23 set win. Freshman Marcinek was instrumental in the comeback attempt, earning a kill followed by a block to keep KSU alive. The senior Bean earned six kills and a .600 attack percentage during the opening set.
 
It was a much different tone in the second set as Bean got the Owls going with a kill from a Metroka assist to put the Owls up 1-0. KSU held on to a one-point lead up until the 12-11 mark, when the Owls put together a 5-0 run to make it 17-11. Royster then nabbed her 10^th kill of the match to win it for the Owls, 15-18, to even up the match.
 
After trailing most of the way through the third and by as many as six points, the Owls climbed back into the game, tying it up at 22 after a kill from Royster. KSU then grabbed its first set lead at 23-22 with a kill from Hopkins and again at 24-23 with the point from Royster. Down the stretch it was the Norse that were the first to score two straight in extra points, however, as NKU earned the 28-26 victory.
 
Much like the second set, the fourth was all KSU as the Owls took the lead for good at 7-6 on a Northern Kentucky attack error. A 6-1 run gave KSU the seven point lead before a Bean service ace set the Owls up for set point, where a NKU service error sent the match into the fifth after the 25-15 set win for KSU.
 
The Owls put a total of four players in double-figure kill totals, Marcinek leading the pack with 21, her second 20-plus kill match of her career, while Royster finished up with 16, Bean with 15 and Hopkins with 13.
 
Hopkins also picked up five blocks during the match to go with her second consecutive double-double effort.
 
To go with the new season-high .276 team attack percentage, the Owls hit over .400 in both the first and fourth sets.
 
The road trip continues for the Owls with a Saturday match at Lipscomb. First serve from Nashville, Tenn. is set for 3 p.m. ET.
 
To keep up with the latest Kennesaw State volleyball news follow the team on Twitter @KSUOwlNation and @KSUOwlsVB or by liking Kennesaw State University on Facebook.
 
Fans are reminded that tickets to all 2013 home volleyball contests are free throughout the year.
 

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