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KENNESAW, Ga. – The Kennesaw State volleyball team bounced back from their recent loss in a huge way Friday night, defeating Liberty in straight sets, 26-24, 25-19, 25-18.
 
How it happened: The Owls (21-5, 12-1) and Lady Flames (13-14, 9-4) battled back-and-forth to open the match as neither team could gain more than a two-point advantage. KSU finally gained the upper hand with a 4-1 run capped off by a kill from Lauren Chastang followed by an ace from Karlee Groover to make it 15-12.
 
The Owls pushed their lead to five points, 18-13, behind a block from Liesl Engelbrecht and Dani Ballou, sandwiched between kills from Sydni Shelton and Ballou. Liberty eventually knotted the set at 21 a piece with a 5-1 run. The two teams traded points with Liberty earning set point behind a kill from Anna Gragg and an ace from Casey Goodwin, 24-23.
 
KSU capitalized on back-to-back errors from the Lady Flames to pull in front as Maddie Jones, in her first appearance since suffering an injury at Washington earlier this year, put the set away with a kill, 26-24.
 
Jones kept the momentum rolling with an ace in the opening moments of the second set to help propel KSU to an early 6-3 lead. The Owls managed to hold Liberty off throughout the early portion of the set, answering each point from the Lady Flames.
 
Leading by two points midway through the set, a kill from Ballou sparked a 6-1 run for KSU to pull away and earn their largest lead of the set, 22-15. Liberty attempted to respond, but a kill from Shelton followed by two from Chastang gave the Owls a 25-19 win.
 
In the third set, KSU once again gained an early lead thanks to a 3-0 run that made it 7-4. KSU kept that lead until a kill from Quin Sutphin opened a 6-1 run to put the Owls up 17-10. Liberty rallied to within three points, 20-17, following a 4-0 run, but KSU shut down any hopes of a comeback closing out the set on a 4-0 run capped off by an ace from Chastang.
 
Notes: Kennesaw State recorded an impressive .438 hitting percentage in the first set, finishing the match hitting .321 to mark the third time in the last four matches the Owls have hit above .300 … Sydni Sheltpn finished with a team-high 12 kills while hitting .524 for the match, the second time this season she has hit above .500 … With her 12 kills, Shelton brings her career total to 974, just 26 kills shy of becoming the fourth Owl in history with over 1,000 career kills … Lauren Chastang was next in line with nine kills, seven digs and two blocks … Quin Sutphin inched closer to the all-time single-season block record with three blocks on the night to go along with seven kills. She needs only seven more blocks to tie Callie Churchwell's record of 113 … Lexi Broadwater moved one step closer to the No. 4 spot on the all-time single-season assists record list with 38 assists on the night to bring her total this year to 1,100, just three assists shy of tying Sara Metroka's 2011 mark of 1,103 … This is the third straight match Broadwater has averaged over 12 assists per set.
 
Quotes: Head Coach Keith Schunzel
On tonight's win…
"Nice match by our team tonight. Proud of how we reacted and responded to the adversity we faced in set one."
 
Up next: The Owls won't get to celebrate tonight's win for long as they take on FGCU for the No. 1 spot in the ASUN Sunday at 2 p.m. The Eagles defeated Lipscomb Friday night 3-0 to remain even with the Owls in conference play, 12-1.