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RADFORD, Va. – The Kennesaw State volleyball team held strong but couldn't overcome a consistent Eastern Kentucky in the season opener for both teams, falling in five sets, 3-2 (25-27, 25-23, 21-25, 25-23, 14-16), during the first day of the La Quinta Inn and Suites Radford Invitational.
 
KSU starts off the year at 0-1 despite what was a tightly contested match, with neither team leading by more than six points during any set as the Colonels move to 1-0 and even the all-time series between the two schools, 1-1.
 
Freshman Kelly Marcinek made a name for herself during her first collegiate match, putting up 23 kills to sit the first-year player at second all-time in the KSU record books for kills in a single match while senior setter Sara Metroka opened up the year with a 53 assists performance.
 
"We played our butts off like we have every single day since I've been at KSU," said first year head coach Keith Schunzel. "As the match went on our offense really started clicking and we started to get into a rhythm. Unfortunately, volleyball is a game of errors and we made a few too many at critical times. We learned a lot about ourselves tonight and even though we didn't come away with a win, I feel like we fought hard and we learned a lot from this match."
 
During the fifth and final set it was EKU that came out strong, going up 8-2 before the Owls took their first timeout of the set. Down 12-6 with their backs against the ropes, the Owls fought back, going on a 6-0 run to tie things up at 12 after three Keyaira Stevenson kills. But ultimately, it was EKU that came out on top, scoring the final three points to take the 16-14 set five win.
 
In the match-opening set, the Owls played from behind most of the way, rallying to cut a 7-2 deficit to just one point at 8-7 following a Metroka kill. After falling back once more midway through, the Owls put together a 4-1 run to again make it a one-point affair at 13-12 on an EKU set error. KSU then grabbed its first lead of the match on an attack error at 23-22 after a huge kill from Metroka to tie things up at 22. It was EKU that came up with the win, however, scoring three straight to end the set at 27-25.
 
The Owls then stormed out to a 7-3 lead in set two, capitalizing on two EKU errors and a pair of kills from sophomore Cierra Royster. The Colonels made things interesting down the stretch though, tying the set up at 15-15. The set then saw six more ties before Royster and Marcinek slammed the door shut with a huge block to give the Owls the 25-23 set win.
 
Despite jumping out to a 3-1 advantage early on in the third, it was EKU who came out on top, 25-21, after taking over the lead late, 18-17. KSU led the majority of the way during the back-and-forth set that saw 12 ties.
 
In the fourth it was back-to-back kills from Toure Hopkins and Marcinek in another tightly contested match that forced a decisive fifth set as the Owls came away with the 25-22 set win. KSU put together a 4-0 run to take a 19-17 lead after being down most of the set after kills from Keyaira Stevenson and Hopkins to go up by two. EKU then took the one-point lead after a timeout at 22-21, but the Owls held strong, ending the set on a 4-1 run.
 
Marcinek's historic 23 kills and .367 attack percentage led both teams in that category while Hopkins put up 12 of her own for KSU who hit .271 as a team. Defensively, Libero Camille Pedraza came up with 14 digs while Fanise Cannon put up 12. Hopkins and Royster led the way in blocks, each finishing up with two.
 
Cannon and Marcinek each saw action for the first time as Owls, Marcinek drawing the start.
 
The Owls will be back in action tomorrow in day two of the Radford Invitational, taking on North Carolina A&T at 12:30 p.m. ET and the host team RU at 5:30 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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