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KENNESAW, Ga. – The Kennesaw State volleyball remained perfect in the ASUN, coming back to defeat North Florida in four sets, 23-25, 25-15, 25-18, 25-15, Sunday afternoon at the Convocation Center.

How it happened: The Owls (13-4, 4-0) came out firing to open the match, going on an 8-1 run to take a 9-3 lead. Trailing 17-9, UNF's Devyn Wheeler logged back-to-back kills to spark a 6-1 run and bring the Ospreys within two, 17-15.

North Florida stayed on KSU's heels pulling within one, 22-21. The Owls looked to close out the opening set up 23-21, but four straight KSU errors gave UNF the first set victory.

The Owls bounced back in the second set, recording the first four points. KSU pushed its lead to as high as seven points, 12-5, thanks to a trio of UNF errors and four kills from freshman Dani Ballou.

KSU maintained their lead throughout the rest of the set, closing it out on a 5-0 run to win the set, 25-15, and tie the match heading into intermission. Sophomore Quin Sutphin recorded five of her eight blocks in the second set.

Out of the break, KSU continued to hound UNF, taking an early 6-2 lead. The Owls built their lead to 12-5 following a 3-0 run capped off by a block from Lauren Chastang and Sutphin. KSU stayed in front throughout the set, leading 20-12 after a kill from Sydni Shelton sandwiched by two aces from Lexi Broadwater.

UNF attempted to mount a late comeback, going on a 4-1 run, but the deficit was too much to overcome as Shelton blasted a kill to clinch the set, 25-18. The Owls had a stellar .444 hitting percentage in the third set.

In the fourth set, the Ospreys and Owls traded points deep into the set tied 17-17. KSU managed to gain the upper hand behind a 4-0 run, 21-17. UNF tried to cut into the Owls lead, but both teams continued to trade points as a kill from Chastang sealed the match victory for KSU, 25-21.

Notes: Four Owls recorded double-digit kills in the match, led by Lauren Chastang who earned her 15th straight match in double-figures with 14 kills … freshman Dani Ballou recorded a career-high 13 kills … Sydni Shelton logged her second straight match with 10 or more kills, ninth of the season, with 12 kills … Liesl Engelbrecht had one of her most efficient matches of the season, recording 11 kills for a .526 hitting percentage … Lexi Broadwater recorded her fifth double-double of the season with 46 assists and 11 digs … Quin Sutphin tied her career-high with eight blocks, matching the KSU single-game record with three solo blocks … As a team, the Owls hit .303 for the match, marking the fourth time this season they have hit .300 or better.

Quotes: Head Coach Keith Schunzel
On coming back after dropping the opening set…
"Coach Wright is doing a really good job with [North Florida] so we knew they'd be ready to go. I don't think they played great Friday at Lipscomb, so I had a feeling that they'd be plenty to handle today. They are really physical. I thought our girls responded really well. We had a good lead in set one, gave it up, and then responded really well in two and three, and then four was back-and-forth but we pulled it out. We made the plays we needed to."

On what he said to the team after the first set…
"They were yelling at each other, to be honest, on the bench so I just tried to settle them down. They all knew that when you give up a five, six-point lead late in the set, you don't deserve to win. And so really it was just me saying let's stay the course and let's keep competing, we'll be alright."

On Lauren Chastang and Sydni Shelton's play…
"A lot of what we've been working on with Lauren is just staying high around the block, not missing the ball low into the net and not making silly errors when she shouldn't be. She's such a terminator, sometimes you have to limit what that termination is. She had a fantastic game passing and hitting, she's just doing awesome stuff this year. Sydni struggled a lot early and her and Lexi [Broadwater] were talking trying to figure out how to work into it, and she had some big kills late like you need seniors to do so I'm proud of her."

Up Next: The Owls have their biggest test of the conference season coming up, traveling to Florida Gulf Coast Friday (Oct. 5) and Liberty Sunday (Oct. 7). Both FGCU and Liberty are undefeated in ASUN play.