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PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Kennesaw State volleyball team could not gain the edge against Dayton in their first match of the day, falling in a tight battle, 25-20, 25-23, 25-23, Saturday morning at the Panther Invitational.

How it happened: It was a close battle at the onset. After the Owls (6-2) and Flyers (6-4) traded points early, Dayton used a 6-1 run to take a 9-4 lead, which it would use to keep the Owls at bay. 

KSU picked up the tempo late in the set fighting off three set points during a 5-1 run to pull within four, 24-20, but the deficit was too big to overcome as Dayton closed out the set with a 25-20 win.  

The second set was another back-and-forth affair as each team traded points tied 12-12. Dayton broke the deadlock with a 5-0 run following two kills from the Flyers' Alli Papesh and two aces from Brooke Westbeld.

Trailing 22-17, The Owls rallied behind four combined kills from Maddie Jones and Lauren Chastang to make it 23-21. Once again the Owls fought off set point to pull within one, 24-23, but another kill from Dayton's Papesh closed out the set. 

Senior Liesl Engelbrecht led the way in the second set, recording five of her 11 kills. The Owls cleaned up their play between the first and the second set after committing seven errors in the opening set. KSU hit a blazing .484 in the second set, recording only one error. 

It was another shoot-out in the third set as neither team could gain separation. It took back-to-back aces from Jones to gain the edge for KSU, 15-13. Dayton found its way in front, 20-17, following two errors from the Owls, but KSU powered back to within one after a kill from Quin Sutphin, her sixth of the night.

Both teams traded points with the match coming down to the wire. KSU fought off yet another set point, but could not pull even before Dayton closed it out, 25-23, to win the match.

Notes: The Owls really picked up the tempo after hitting .104 in the first set. KSU settled down and hit .484 and .433 in the second and third set, respectively … Chastang picked up her sixth straight match with double-digit kills and her fourth double-double of the year with 13 kills and 10 digs … Engelbrecht and Sutphin continued their dominance at the net with five and four blocks, respectively … Engelbrecht also finished the match with double-digit kills (11), hitting .400 percent for the match with only one error.

Up Next: The Owls close out the Panther Invitational tonight against No. 12 Washington at 7 p.m.

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