By: By Brandon Scardigli
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FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Kennesaw State volleyball team put up a valiant effort with their backs against the ropes deep in the fourth set, but it was Florida Gulf Coast that ultimately came out on top, 3-1 (17-25, 25-23, 21-25, 26-28), in a hotly contested Atlantic Sun Conference bout on Friday night in Alico Arena.
The Owls faced match point numerous times in the final set before falling to 6-7 on the year and 1-2 in the A-Sun while the Eagles move to 3-10 on the year and 2-1 in the league with the win.
The two-hour match saw 35 tied scores and 14 lead changes.
In the match opener it was even playing through the first six points until the Owls broke open the tie, taking an 8-6 lead over the Eagles after a pair of kills from freshman
Kelly Marcinek. A four-point swing then gave the advantage to FGCU as the Eagles took the lead at 12-11, never relinquishing the edge as they grabbed the opening set, 25-17.
It was an
Emily Bean service ace in the second set that ultimately gave the Owls a 25-23 set two win, tying the match up at 1-1. KSU held a 15-6 lead to start things off before the Eagles fought all the way back to tie things up at 21-21. A Marcinek kill then set up the Bean winner to end it in favor of the Owls.
In the third set it was FGCU that jumped out to the 17-12 lead midway through, but the Owls fought back, tying the match up at 17 with a 5-0 run. The two teams tied it up four more times at 18, 19, 20 and 21 before the Eagles ended the set on a 4-0 swing, going up in the match 2-1 after a 25-21 set win.
The Owls took the Eagles to the brink in the fourth and final set, taking it into extra points in a fight to stay alive before ultimately dropping things, 28-26. KSU faced match-point on three separate occasions, battling back to tie up the set each time before the Eagles took the 3-1 match win.
Senior setter
Sara Metroka tallied her first double-double of the season with 39 assists and 13 digs while the freshman Marcinek put up a match-best 17 kills and a .395 attack percentage. #Keyaira Stevenson also ended the night in double-digit kills with her 12.
Defensively it was the libero
Camille Pedraza who held things down with 20 digs as
Megan McGuinness came up with five blocks, two coming in the solo variety.
KSU now heads to DeLand, Fla. overnight to face the Hatters of Stetson University tomorrow at 5 p.m. ET to wrap-up the two-game A-Sun road trip.
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.
-#GoKSUOwls-
