By: By Joseph Feldman
BOX SCORE (XML) | BOX SCORE (PDF) | POST GAME INTERVIEW | PHOTO GALLERY
KENNESAW, Ga. – The Kennesaw State volleyball team lost its home opener in a tough five set match (25-21, 23-25, 20-25, 25-18, 7-15) against the Elon Phoenix.
"Thanks to the crowd, what great energy and a great atmosphere for college volleyball," head coach
Keith Schunzel said. "When you play five sets and don't come out on top, it's always tough to deal with. We did a lot of good things and some things that weren't so good, but our young team learned some lessons tonight. We'll take some things from it and learn and move forward."
The Owls came out of the locker room fired up to play in front of their home crowd and cruised to an early lead in the first set. With
Kelly Marcinek leading the way with six kills hitting .333, KSU closed out the Phoenix 25-21 to take a one set lead.
In the second set, the Phoenix had an early lead, but the Owls wouldn't go down without a fight. They held off three set points to make the score 23-24 before Elon closed out the second set to even the match up at one set a piece.
Elon took a big lead in the beginning of the third set, but KSU responded with another comeback. This time it was behind the service of freshman
Anaiah Boyer. With the Owls down 12-19, she helped the team go on a 5-0 run behind two aces to cut the lead to 16-19. Despite the late run, the Phoenix won the set 25-20.
With the Owls down 2-1 in sets, they responded in the fourth set behind another freshman's service. KSU held a 16-14 lead with
Katarina Morton serving and she extended the Owls lead with a 7-0 run to make the score 22-14.
Cierra Royster pushed the match to five sets with a kill ending the fourth set 25-18.
Elon used a big run in the middle of the fifth set to seal the set 15-7 and win the match.
Setter
Kristi Piedimonte had her first career double double with 39 assists and 10 digs. She also added five kills.
Royster played a good game finishing with 10 kills hitting .300 and had four blocks.
Marcinek finished the game with 17 kills and eight digs. She has had double-digit kills in four of five matches so far this season.
Morton led the way in digs with 18 as well as three service aces.
Tomorrow the Owls will play two more games. The first one is against UNC Asheville at noon and the second one is against No. 7 Purdue at 7:30 on ESPN3. The Purdue match is Student Appreciation Night with all students receiving free popcorn. Also, the first 250 fans to attend the game will receive a free cell phone wallet.
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 2014 home volleyball contests are free throughout the year. - #GoKSUOwls -
