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DELAND, Fla. – The Kennesaw State volleyball team had its 14-match winning streak snapped Saturday evening, falling to Stetson, 25-20, 25-21, 25-23, to suffer its first loss in ASUN play.
 
How it happened: The Hatters (13-10, 5-6) jumped out to a 4-1 lead to open the match, but the Owls (20-5, 11-1) responded to even it at 5-5 following a kill from Lexi Broadwater. Stetson then proceeded to go on a 5-0 run to take a 10-5 advantage.
 
KSU managed to pull within one multiple times, but Stetson responded with back-to-back kills each time to maintain a three-point lead. A kill from Sydni Shelton made it 20-19, but Stetson closed out the set on a 5-1 run to win 25-20.
 
Both teams traded points to open the second set with KSU eventually building a 10-6 lead following a 4-1 run capped off by a kill from Shelton. The Hatters pulled in front 13-11, following a 6-0 run which featured three kills from Riley Nieporte. 
 
The Owls knotted it up 15-15, but the Hatters would eventually pull away with a 7-1 run to earn set point 24-18. KSU managed to fight off three straight set points, but another kill from Nieporte gave Stetson the 25-21 set victory.
 
It was an extremely close affair in the third set as neither team could gain more than a one-point advantage. Stetson eventually broke through behind a 4-0 run to lead 21-17, but the Owls clawed back in front, 23-22, with a 6-1 run capped off by back-to-back kills from Dani Ballou and an ace from Karlee Groover.
 
Those would be the final points for KSU as the Hatters recorded the next three straight points to win the set 25-23. The final set saw 18 ties and nine lead changes.
 
Notes: The loss marks the Owls first loss to a conference opponent since Oct. 7 of last season, a streak of 23 straight matches … The Hatters recorded a .310 hitting percentage, marking only the second time this season an opponent has hit .300 or better against KSU … Lauren Chastang led the Owls with 12 kills, nearly recording a double-double with nine digs … Dani Ballou recorded her second straight match in double-figures with 10 kills … Lexi Broadwater had another all-around performance with 38 assists, seven digs and four kills.
 
Quotes: Head Coach Keith Schunzel
On the match…
"We flat out just got beat tonight. Stetson out played us, out prepared us, out coached us and deserved to win. When teams play as aggressively and as well as they did tonight they tend to get all the breaks, all the calls and all the bounces and that's what happened."
 
On the margin for being an elite program... 
"We've talked all year how the line between us being an elite team and an average team is very thin and tonight we were reminded of that the hard way."
 
On getting stuck offensively…
"We became way too one dimensional offensively and that put so much pressure on our left sides to carry us. We're not at our best when we're playing that style offensively. I promise you, we're going to be ok."
 
Up next:The Owls return to the Convocation Center to open a three-match home stand against Liberty Friday (Nov. 2) at 7 p.m.