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KENNESAW, Ga. – It was a night for the history books as the Kennesaw State volleyball team took its first tournament championship title under head coach Keith Schunzel with a 3-1 (25-22, 16-25, 25-22, 25-23) match win over Samford to take the 2013 Owls Invitational at the KSU Convocation Center.
 
The Owls made it four-straight wins on their home court en route to the championship crown, putting the team back at .500 on the year at 5-5 thanks in large part to the Tournament MVP performance from senior setter Sara Metroka.
 
"It feels so good, especially after the shaky start to the season as coach said," said Metroka. "We've really been working on our mental game. We have the talent. We've been getting better every day, and we did a really good job last week."
 
Metroka totaled 155 assists during the four matches and was named alongside teammates Camille Pedraza and Cierra Royster to All-Tournament Team, Pedraza earning 71 digs and Royster picking up 35 kills and 15 blocks.
 
"The kids are riding high right now. It was as well as we played all year," said Schunzel. "Our serve-receive was great all night, and our setter played fantastic all weekend. We made a real jump after playing shaky early on against Tennessee Tech and at times against Stony Brook. Today, we really took it to a new level. That was exciting to see. Every game we did better and tonight was a whole lot of fun.
 
"I feel good about where we're at. We're playing great and much better than we were three weeks ago. We'll celebrate tonight and enjoy the victory, but get back to work on Monday. I think mentally we're in a much better place. We've been training hard and getting better."
 
In a combative first set that saw 12 ties and a pair of lead changes, it was KSU that came out on top after a Keyaira Stevenson kill to take the 1-0 match lead, capping off a 3-1 Kennesaw State run after the Bulldogs came back within one late at 22-21.
 
After Samford took the second 25-16, the Owls came out blazing in the third, jumping out to a 4-1 edge on three Bulldog errors and a Royster kill. Back-to-back Stevenson points helped put the Owls up by four at 18-14 before a Samford service error put the Owls up 2-1 in the match with the 25-22 set win.
 
Behind to the Bulldogs 16-11 during the fourth and final set, KSU slowly chipped away at the Bulldog lead, putting together three straight points on kills from Royster and Stevenson. Down by just two at 20-18, the Owls grabbed their first lead of the set after scoring four straight to go up 20-18 and never looking back, taking the championship on an error for a 25-23 win.
 
Stevenson led the Owls during the championship run with 19 kills and a.314 attack percentage while Kelly Marcinek added in 12 along with 11 from Royster. Metroka ended the night with 45 assists to go with Pedraza's 14 digs.
 
The Owls begin Atlantic Sun Conference play this Friday, Sept. 20 at 7 p.m. ET as KSU hosts USC Upstate followed by a Saturday match with East Tennessee State at 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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