Score: Kennesaw State 3, Georgia 0 (27-25, 25-20, 25-19)
Records: Kennesaw State (6-1), Georgia (8-3)
Key Players: Kristi Piedimonte (33 assists), Maddie Jones (12 kills hitting .219 and 5 digs), Anaiah Boyer (10 kills and 10 digs), Liesl Engelbrecht (9 kills hitting .438 and 5 blocks)
 
Box Score (PDF) | Box Score (XML) | Photo Gallery
 
THE STORYLINE: 
· Kennesaw State pushed their record to 6-1 after sweeping the Georgia Bulldogs in the KSU Convocation Center. With the victory, Kennesaw State has beaten every NCAA Division I program in the state of Georgia under head coach Keith Schunzel and the Owls are 8-2 against in-state opponents the last three seasons.

HOW IT HAPPENED: 
Kennesaw State found itself in a hole in the first set trailing 22-16. Out of a timeout, KSU was sparked by Boyer serving as the team went on an 8-0 run to take a 24-22 lead. The Bulldogs fought off a couple of set points and had one of their own before the Owls finished off the set 27-25 by winning three straight points with kills from Kristi Piedimonte, Rachel Taylor and Jones.
 
KSU held an early lead in the second, but Georgia battled back. With the score tied at 19, the Owls closed down the set finishing with a 6-1 run going up 2-0 in the match.
 
Looking to finish things off in three in front of the home crowd, Kennesaw State stretched things out in the middle of the set leading by as many as seven points before closing out the in-state Bulldogs 25-19 in straight sets.
 
SCHUNZEL'S QUOTE:
"Obviously, that's a big win for our program. We struggled early in set one and pulled off a big  comeback to take an early lead in the match, and then started competing at a higher level and really controlled the match in set two and three. I'm proud of our team because I challenged them as strongly as I have all season after the first set to start playing Kennesaw State volleyball and show how good we are. Both Maddie Jones and Anaiah Boyer passed, defended and attacked extremely well tonight, and Liesl Engelbrecht had another big night hitting .438 with nine kills. We're going to enjoy this win, but we know there are bigger and better things ahead because everyone in our locker room wants to keep pushing the envelope to keep getting better."
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS: 
· This is the first win in program history against Georgia for Kennesaw State. The Owls had been 0-5 before tonight's match.
· Since Schunzel has been at Kennesaw State, he has beaten every NCAA Division I school in Georgia. Over the past three seasons, the Owls are 8-2 against in-state opponents.
· This is the second victory for Kennesaw State over an SEC school. The first one was Mississippi State in 2012.
· Jones led the team in kills tonight with 14. It is her third time in four matches totaling double-digit kills.
· The team totaled 11 blocks tonight against the Bulldogs led by Engelbrecht's five on the night. This is the second time this season that the Owls have totaled double-digit blocks.

UP NEXT
Kennesaw State will go up against another SEC opponent on Saturday, September 16 as they travel to take on No. 12 Kentucky Wildcats. Schunzel was an assistant with Kentucky before becoming the head coach at Kennesaw State.

The following day, the Owls will take on the Lousiville Cardinals at 3 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.
 
It is free admission to all home volleyball matches for the Owls.