Score: Kennesaw State 3, USC Upstate 0 (25-21, 25-16, 25-16)
Records: Kennesaw State (12-8, 6-0), USC Upstate (11-12, 3-3)
Key Players: Kristi Piedimonte (40 assists), Kelly Marcinek (12 kills hitting .417), Sydni Shelton (10 kills hitting .617), Liesl Engelbrecht (10 kills hitting .500)
 
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THE STORYLINE:
· Kennesaw State volleyball pushed their win streak to 11 matches after defeating USC Upstate in three straight sets at the KSU Convocation Center on Friday, October 14. The Owls setter Kristi Piedimonte distributed the ball very well matching a career high in a three-set match with 40 assists as three hitters hit over .400 and had double-digit kills.

SCHUNZEL ON TONIGHT'S WIN:
"I thought we did a really nice job of playing good, clean, consistent volleyball all match. We distributed the ball very well and had a lot of people put up big offensive numbers. This is the best Upstate team since I've been here and I thought we did a nice job of coming into the match ready to play and doing what we needed to do to control the it."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED: 
First Set: The Spartans kept it close early on the road, but KSU pushed their lead out to four on a Maddie Jones service ace forcing Upstate to use its first timeout. USC Upstate cut that lead back to two, but a block by Rachel Taylor and Kelly Marcinek had the Owls back up four at 22-18. The Owls closed out the set on a Liesl Engelbrecht kill to take a 1-0 lead.
 
Second Set: With the second set tight early, the Owls went on an 11-3 run to go up 22-13. Engelbrecht once again closed out the set pushing KSU's lead to 2-0 with her fifth kill of the set hitting a perfect 1.000. As a team, KSU hit .324 and held Upstate to a .000 hitting percentage.
 
Third Set: The Owls raced out to a lead in the third looking going up 7-3. The Spartans made a small run to bring the score to 8-6, but KSU responded to go on an 8-1 surge to go back up 15-7. Kennesaw State cruised from there closing out the match in straight sets hitting .303 as a team.

#NESTNOTES
· With the win, KSU extended their winning streak to 11 matches overall and six straight in the ASUN.
· The Owls have now won five straight matches over USC Upstate, but this is the first time during that streak that the match didn't go to five sets.
· Kristi Piedimonte totaled 40 assists in a three-set match for the second time in her career. She guided the Owls to a team hitting percentage over .300 for the third time this season.
· Along with hitting .303 as a team, KSU had three players with double-digit kills that hit over .400. Kelly Marcinek led the team tonight with 12 kills hitting .417, Sydni Shelton had 10 kills hitting .625 and Liesl Engelbrecht hit .500 with 10 kills.
· Katarina Morton led the Owls with 15 digs averaging 5.0 per set.

UP NEXT
Kennesaw State has two more matches in The Nest to complete a five-match home stand. On Saturday, October 15 the Owls will host the NJIT Highlanders to complete the first half of conference play. Then, next week the Owls will play the Lipscomb Bisons on Friday, October 21 at 7 p.m.

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.
 
All tickets to all 2016 home volleyball contests are free throughout the year.