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Kennesaw, Ga. – On Senior night at the Convocation Center, the Kennesaw State volleyball team beat in-state rival Mercer in a thrilling five-set match (26-24, 22-25, 25-21, 25-22, 15-11) to close out the regular season.
 
Seniors Emily Bean, Aneisha Christie, Camille Pedraza, and Sara Metroka came up with one big play after another when the team needed them most. Bean finished the match with a double-double with 14 kills and 10 digs, Pedrazza finished with 29 digs, and Metroka having 54 assists with 22 of those coming in the second set. This senior class raised the bar at Kennesaw State and rewrote the record book in their four years.
 
"We knew when we came here we were going to change things and leave a legacy," Bean said. "I think we've all done that."
 
The Owls rode the adrenaline from senior night early in the first set and jumped out to a 5-2 lead after a Christie kill. KSU's lead would tighten up in the middle of the first set at 13-11 before the Owls would stretch out their lead on a Bean kill to put the Owls up 15-11. Mercer had one more run in them as they tied the set up at 24, but Kelly Marcinek collected a kill from Metroka to take the first set 26-24.
 
The second set was another tightly contested set that saw the game tied seven times, but the Owls couldn't grab a lead and lost 25-22.
 
With the third set being another tight one, the Metroka stepped up and had 15 assists with sophomore Toure Hopkins having six kills. The set was tied at 15 when Megan McGuninness got a kill to spark a five-point run that put the Owls up 20-15. KSU would close out the set 25-21 on another Hopkins kill.
 
In the fourth set, the Owls tried to make a late run at Mercer after a service error made the score 20-19, but the Bears would win the fourth set 25-22.
 
Bean gave the Owls a lead early in the fifth after she claimed her 80^th career service ace, which is a Kennesaw State career record. Once KSU had the lead they would not give it back as Marcinek would close out the match with her 10^th kill.
 
The Owls finished the game with three players having double-digit kill totals and two of those, Hopkins and Bean, both having double-doubles in the match.
 
"It's really exciting," Pedraza said. "They're our rivals, so we don't like playing them, but we like beating them. It was fun and a good way to go out.
 
After getting her first career start, Christie finished the match hitting 1.000 with two kills and two block assists.
 
"It was fun," Christie said. "I've been waiting for this my entire senior year since I got injured right of the bat." 
 
The Owls will now turn their attention to their first round matchup against Lipscomb on Thursday, November 21 at 7:30 in the Atlantic Sun Tournament after finishing the regular season at 13-15 overall and 8-10 in A-Sun play.
 
"We're going to do the same thing we always do: keep practicing hard and focus on our side of the net," Metroka said on getting ready for the A-Sun Tournament. "We'll think about the other team, but our focus will be on us getting better and to continue improving."
 
 To purchase tickets for the A-Sun Volleyball Championship you can call the Kennesaw State Athletics ticket office at 770-423-6957 or go online at www.ksuowls.com/tickets.  
 
 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.
 
   
 
 

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