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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Kennesaw State volleyball team rallied around a pair of stellar offensive performances but couldn't hold off Atlantic Sun Conference foe Lipscomb as the Owls fell in four, 3-1 (16-25, 25-20, 22-25, 15-25), on Saturday afternoon.
 
Freshman Kelly Marcinek had another double-digit kill outing, putting up 15 to give the rookie 36 kills on the weekend. Not to be outdone, sophomore #Cierra Royster added in 13 kills with a .407 attack percentage, a career-high, as the Owls fell to 7-11 on the year and 2-6 in the conference standings.
 
"It was a disappointing finish to a tough weekend for us," Kennesaw State head coach #Keith Schunzel said. "The good news is we competed very hard during the weekend and we continue at times to play a very high level of volleyball. The next step for us is to consistently play at that level for long periods of time, which is something Lipscomb did today. We will keep fighting and this team will not give up because that's the kind of people we have in this program."

The Bison came out swinging in the opening set, going up 6-1 on the Owls right out of the gate. KSU came back within three at 7-4 after a Royster kill along with a Lipscomb attack error, but LU responded, going up 10-5 before ultimately taking the set and an early match lead with the 25-16 win.
 
Set two saw the Owls take their first lead of the match at 10-9 after Royster put the Owls up with a kill from setter Sara Metroka. Marcinek then went off for a kill followed by a Metroka ace to give KSU the 15-11 lead midway through. The freshman Marcinek then ended things with a kill at the 10-foot line for the 25-20 set win, evening things up at one.
 
After falling behind to the Bison 8-3 in the third, the Owls clawed their way back in, going on a 3-0 run to cut the LU lead down to just two at 8-6 on kills from Emily Bean and Keyaira Stevenson. Bean and Royster then combined for the block to tie it up at nine, but a 5-1 run from the home team put Lipscomb up for good as the Bison went on to win it, 25-22.
 
The Owls never led in the fourth set after Lipscomb again pulled away early, this time at 6-1. KSU made it 11-7 with a pair of Bison attack error and climbed to within three at 10-7 after a Marcinek kill. But a 4-0 run from Lipscomb down the stretch put things out of reach as the Bison took it, 25-15.
 
Defensively, libero Camille Pedraza was good for 19 digs while Bean and Royster combined for eight total blocks.
 
KSU returns to the floor next Saturday, Oct. 19, with a 3 p.m. ET match at in-state rival Mercer.
 
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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