Score: Kennesaw State 3, Lipscomb 2 (15-25, 28-26, 23-25, 25-22, 15-13)
Records: Kennesaw State (7-8, 1-0), Lipscomb (7-5, 0-1)
Key Players: Anaiah Boyer (17 kills, 15 digs and five blocks), Kelly Marcinek (12 kills and her 1,000^th career kill), Kristi Piedimonte (49 assists, 11 digs and three blocks)
 
Box Score (PDF) | Box Score (XML)
 
 
THE STORYLINE: 
· After falling down by a set twice in the match, Kennesaw State kept fighting and won the final two sets against the preseason favorite Lipscomb Bisons. Junior Anaiah Boyer led the Owls with 17 kills while also having 15 digs and five blocks.

SCHUNZEL ON THE WIN:
"That was a gritty, tough performance from our group tonight. We got absolutely blasted in set one by a very good and very prepared Lipscomb team. To our player's credit and what I'm most proud of, is that from set two on we started competing at the level we're capable of and made a match out of it. That was a battle that could've gone either way, but because we shifted our mentality and aggressiveness after that opening set, we put ourselves in position to pull out a huge road win to open conference play.
 
We had a gutsy performance tonight from Anaiah Boyer, who took some huge swings for us and impacted the game with her serve, defense and blocking. Madeline Johnson stepped up in the biggest match of her young career with some big kills and blocks, and Kristi Piedimonte set a very consistent match and ran the offense well."


 
HOW IT HAPPENED: 
First Set: Lipscomb came out hot behind their home crowd in the conference opener and put Kennesaw State down early. The Owls couldn't recover from the large deficit and faced a quick 1-0 hole to the Bisons.
 
Second Set: Not wanting to fall down 2-0 on the road, KSU came out much more composed in the second set going point-for-point with the home team in the early going. The Owls finally got some space from the Bisons with a 4-0 run to take an 11-9 lead, but it wouldn't last for long. Lipscomb responded to go on an 8-2 run late in the set to go up 22-18. After using their final timeout and with their backs against the wall, Kennesaw State went on a 6-1 run to even the set at 23. Their work still wasn't done yet though as Lipscomb had two set points that the Owls denied, and then the Owls had two of their own finally cashing in on the second one on Anaiah Boyer's fifth kill of the set to tie the match at 1-1 at the break. Kelly Marcinek became the second player in Kennesaw State volleyball history to reach 1,000 kills when she got her fourth kill of the match.
 
Third Set: The third set was another tight one as Lipscomb used a 5-1 run to go up 19-14. The Owls weren't going to give up though answering with a 5-1 run of their own to bring the score back to 20-19. Lipscomb didn't give up their lead though as the Owls got within one three times, but couldn't get over the hump falling down in the match once again.
 
Fourth Set: Once again with their backs against the wall, Kennesaw State came out in the fourth set ready to rock and roll jumping out to a quick 5-1 lead and forcing Lipscomb to use an early timeout as they led 9-5. The Owls maintained a lead throughout the set until the Bisons tied it up at 18. KSU wouldn't be denied though going on a 5-1 run to take a 23-19 lead. Lipscomb saved two set points, but Kennesaw State forced a fifth set winning the fourth 25-22.
 
Fifth Set: Needing a good start in the fifth set on the road, Kennesaw State got just that with two kills from Anaiah Boyer early to go up 5-2 forcing Lipscomb to use a timeout. The Owls didn't take their foot off the pedal after that making the switch up 8-3. The Bisons weren't done though coming back to tie the score at nine. After the team's traded points, KSU took a 13-11 lead. The Owls secured two match points and sealed the huge road victory on a Bisons attack error.
 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS: 
· Kelly Marcinek became the second player in Kennesaw State history to reach 1,000 career kills. She reached the milestone in the second set when she got her fourth kill of the match. The senior outside hitter finished with 12 kills in the match.
- This win against Lipscomb is the second win in program history over the Bisons and the second year in a row that Kennesaw State has beat them in five sets at Allen Arena during the regular season.
- Anaiah Boyer had her sixth double-double on the season posting 17 kills and 15 digs. She also had five blocks in the match.
- Freshman Madeline Johnson played the best match of her young career against Lipscomb posting seven kills with zero errors and leading the team with six blocks.
- Maddie Jones continued to play well posting her first career double-double in an Owls uniform. She finished the match with 11 kills and 12 digs.
- Kennesaw State had four players with double-digit digs and three of those players ended up with double-doubles in the match. Katarina Morton led the team in digs with 18.
 
 
UP NEXT
The Owls will be on the road for one more weekend before heading home to face Jacksonville and North Florida. Next week's trip will cap 14 straight matches on the road for KSU.

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.