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KENNESAW, Ga. – The Kennesaw State women's volleyball team settled in and hammered Clemson late to run away with a 3-1 victory, 20-25, 25-21, 25-18, 25-15, Tuesday night to remain perfect on the year.
 
With the win, the Owls (6-0) matched their best start in program history while extending their home-winning streak to 15 matches.
 
Four Owls finished with double-digit kills on the night with senior Maddie Jones (10 kills, 10 digs) and sophomore Lauren Chastang (18 kills, 10 digs) recording their third double-doubles of the season.
 
How it happened: Clemson (4-3) got going early, taking a 7-3 lead in the first set. The Tigers built their lead to as high as 17-9 forcing a timeout from head coach Keith Schunzel. Out of the break, the Owls ripped off a 6-1 run to climb back into the set down 18-15.
 
That would be as close as the Owls would get in the set though as Clemson took advantage of KSU errors to win the opening set 25-20. KSU hit .068 percent for the set and committing 11 errors, the most in a single-set this season.
 
The Owls cleaned up their mistakes in a much tighter second set, taking a 7-3 lead of their own in the opening minutes. KSU would not relinquish the lead the rest of the set. Clemson attempted to mount a comeback pulling within 22-20, but back-to-back kills from Jones put the set away, 25-21, to tie the match 1-1. KSU with a .353 hitting percentage, cutting its errors down from 11 to four.
 
KSU continued to improve as the match went on as both teams traded points, tied 11-11 midway through the third set. The Owls then took control as a kill from senior Sydni Shelton sandwiched between two Clemson errors sparked an 8-1 run to give KSU a 19-12 lead.
 
KSU went on to win the set, 25-18, behind a .447 hitting percentage to take a 2-1 lead. Chastang recorded seven of her 18 kills in the third set alone.
 
The Owls left no doubt in the fourth set, holding Clemson to a -.037 hitting percentage on their way to a 25-15 set victory.
 
Notable: Seniors Shelton and Engelbrecht finished the match with 11 and 10 kills, respectively, to give KSU four hitters in double-figures … Chastang's 18 kills ties her career high set in against Presbyterian in KSU's last outing … setter Lexi Broadwater recorded her third match this season with 40 or more assists (45) finishing one dig shy of a third straight double-double … sophomore Quin Sutphin was a beast at the net, recording five total blocks, three solo … Sutphin finished the match with seven kills.
 
Quotable: Head Coach Keith Schunzel
On early struggles in the first set…
"Clemson has done a good job of improving from last year to this year without question and their speed got to us early. They were really in rhythm offensively, they were passing the ball well. Once we got them off the net a little bit our serve picked up, our attackers got a little more aggressive putting some more pressure on them so they couldn't transition as easily. It got a little tougher for them and that's when the match turned. I was impressed that our girls made some adjustments and came back great the rest of the match"
 
On Chastang and Jones' play…
"Both of our left sides are just playing terrific volleyball and they both have gotten a lot better here as this month has gone on. I'm really happy with what they are doing. They are two different kind of players, Lauren is a lot more power, Maddie has got to really move the ball around and they are both learning who they are and how they have to be to be successful. I'm really proud of those two."
 
On setting a winning standard…
"I'm proud of our group for beating Clemson tonight, but frankly these are matches we expect to win because we've set a really high standard in our program. We have a lot of big-time players, and we've built a winning tradition. Clemson does some nice things, that we had to adjust to after set one, but we felt very confident going into the match and had a great game plan and have a very talented team that is capable of winning at a high level."
 
Up next: The Owls hit the road for the Panther Invitational in Pittsburgh, Pa., kicking off tournament play against hosts Pittsburgh Friday at 10:30 a.m.

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