Scores: Kennesaw State 3, USC Upstate 2 (23-25, 25-18, 21-25, 25-18, 15-10)
Records: Kennesaw State (9-3, 1-0), USC Upstate (12-5, 0-1)
Key Players: Sydni Shelton (23 kills hitting .377 with zero errors), Kristi Piedimonte (46 assists, 10 digs and six blocks), Katarina Morton (31 digs), Liesl Engelbrecht (10 blocks, three kills and two service aces)
 
Box Score (XML) | Box Score (PDF)

KENNESAW, Ga. – With the opening match of conference season, every team wants to get off on the right foot and the Kennesaw State volleyball team did just that against USC Upstate on Saturday, September 26.
 
The Owls fought back trailing twice in the match to eventually win in a nerve wracking five sets.
 
With the score tied at eight in the fifth, Sydni Shelton picked up two kills while Anaiah Boyer and Amariah Boyer each had a kill to help the Owls finish the match on a 6-2 run making them 1-0 in A-Sun play.
 
The Spartans came out of the gate hot in the opening set. They had a three-point lead at 21-18, but with Katarina Morton serving, KSU went on a 4-0 run to take a brief one-point lead. Upstate responded by closing the set out with a 4-1 run and taking their first lead in the match.
 
The Owls jumped on the Spartans in the second set taking a 16-8 lead forcing Upstate to use an early timeout. Kennesaw State maintained that cushion throughout the rest of the set evening the match at one each.
 
In the third set, the Owls had an 18-15 lead after a Karla Radillo ace and seemed to be in control when Upstate stormed back to close the set out with a 10-3 run and go up 2-1.
 
Needing a spark early in the fourth, Am. Boyer provided it, beginning the set with four early block-assists to give the Owls an early lead. KSU extended their lead to as much as seven and cruised to a 25-18 win to push the match to five sets.
 
This is the third five set match this season for Kennesaw State and the second time the Owls have come back after trailing 2-1.
 
KSU will be back at home once again next weekend hosting Jacksonville on Friday, October 2 and North Florida on Saturday, October 3.

Coach Schunzel on Starting A-Sun Play 1-0
"My first thought is that I'm really proud of our team for grinding through a day where things didn't click easily at times. We played a really clean fifth set and had some big plays late, and we played that set with the thought of winning. That's what you want your team to do. Obviously, the play of Sydni Shelton continues to be phenomenal for not only a freshman, but for anybody. To have 61 swings and zero errors is remarkable. Amariah Boyer got her first action ever in an Owl uniform and came up with a bunch of big blocks and had some timely kills. I'm proud of her for fighting her way back. Overall, we continue to learn that everybody that we play on our schedule is good and that being mentally prepared to battle is a very important things. We're obviously happy that we're 1-0 in conference and we need to continue to improve, but we're happy where we are at after the opening weekend."
 Kennesaw State Head Coach Keith Schunzel
 
Notes
- This is the third five-set match for KSU this season and the team has won them all. It was the second time that the team faced a 2-1 deficit in the match and has come out victorious in both matches.
- Against USC Upstate, this is the third consecutive match that has gone to five sets dating back to last season. The Owls have won all three of those matches.
- The team combined for 18.0 blocks against the Spartans setting a new school record. The previous record was 16.0 against Jacksonville in 2012.
- Katarina Morton tied a school record with 31 digs against USC Upstate. This is the second time in her career that she has had at least 30 digs and both came against the Spartans.
- Sydni Shelton set a new career high in kills leading the team with 23 hitting .377. She had 61 attacks in the match and made zero errors. It's the second time this season she has had at least 17 kills with no errors in a match.
- Liesl Engelbrecht came up one block shy of tying Cierra Royster's school record as she finished with 10 today against USC Upstate. Since being inserted into the starting lineup against Georgia Tech, Engelbrecht has 17 kills combined in the two matches.
- Amariah Boyer saw her first action in an Owls uniform. Her stat line was eight kills, six blocks and one assist to her sister Anaiah.
 
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 2015 home volleyball contests are free throughout the year.