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LYNCHBURG, Va. – The Kennesaw State women's volleyball team ended the regular season on a high note, outlasting Liberty in a tough four-set battle, 38-36, 20-25, 25-18, 26-24, Sunday afternoon to clinch the No. 2 overall seed and a first-round bye in the ASUN Conference Tournament.
 
Four Owls finished the match with double-digit kills, led by Lauren Chastang who recorded her 15th double-double of the season, third in the last four matches, with 21 kills and 13 digs.
 
How it Happened: KSU (20-8, 13-3) jumped out in front early with a 3-0 run to lead Liberty (18-10, 11-5) 8-3. The Flames eventually tied it up 14-14 following a quick 3-0 run as the two teams then proceeded to go point-for-point. The Owls finally gained the upper hand, earning set point 24-22 behind a 4-1 swing which featured two kills from Quin Sutphin. The Flames clawed their way back in front with another 3-0 run to earn a set point of their own, 25-24. KSU and Liberty continued to go back-and-forth as neither team would let up. The Owls fought off 10 set points for LU as KSU outlasted the Flames to win a marathon first set 38-36.
 
The two squads continued to trade points in the opening minutes of the second set before a 4-0 run put the Flames in front 10-5. Liberty held the Owls at a distance throughout the set until KSU cut the deficit to one, 20-19, with a 4-0 run capped off by a kill from Katie Crocker. That would be as close as the Owls would get though as Liberty responded with a 5-1 swing to win the set 25-20. KSU hit .088 in the second set as the Flames recorded five blocks, two in the final run.
 
It was another hotly contested set in the third as the two squads went blow-for-blow before an ace from Lexi Broadwater gave KSU a 12-9 lead. The Owls pushed their lead to six, 17-11, after a 5-1 run which featured two kills and a block from Jasmine Brown. KSU utilized their lead to hold Liberty at arm's length the rest of the set with Chastang recording a kill to put the final nail in the coffin, 25-18. It was a major turnaround for the Owls in the third, hitting .480, with only three errors.
 
The Flames took advantage of KSU's errors to open the fourth set, taking an early 7-5 lead. The Owls eventually settled down, ripping off a 5-0 run to take the lead, 13-10. Liberty knotted it back up at 14-14, but KSU took five of the next six points as back-to-back kills from Chastang made it 19-15. Leading 23-20, KSU looked to close out the match, but Liberty had other plans, going on a 3-0 run to even the set. Unlike the first set, the Owls made sure to end the late battle quickly as Brown laid down a kill and Broadwater served up an ace to record a 26-24 set victory.
 
Notes: With the win, the Owls have now recorded at least 20 wins in three straight seasons … this is the fourth straight season the Owls have earned a top-two finish in the ASUN regular season standings … Lauren Chastang's 21 kills marks the sixth time this season she has recorded 20 or more kills … Quin Sutphin finished with 15 kills to mark the third time in the last four matches she has logged 15 or more kills … Jasmine Brown was one kill shy of her career-high with 13 kills while adding four blocks … Dani Ballou was the fourth Owl in double-figures with 10 kills … Lexi Broadwater had 59 assists in the match, her ninth match this year with 50 or more assists … Katie Crocker had a career-high four blocks … Karlee Groover recorded a team-high 18 digs … before being sidelined due to injury in the first set, Emma Schurfranz was hitting .571 with five kills on seven swings … as a team, the Owls recorded nine aces, four from Bri Becerra and two each from Jessie Cohen and Broadwater.
 
Quotes: Head Coach Keith Schunzel
On the hard fought match…
"The fight we showed today was nothing short of tremendous. We played through a serious injury to a starting attacker against a tough Liberty team on the road. Finding a way to win set one after so much adversity showed a lot of character by our women and set the tone for the match."
 
On  playing at a high level…
"We talk about it all the time, that winning high level games and competing for championships takes guts, tons of resilience and a consistent mentality by everyone on our roster. Today we showed all of those things. Really proud of our group to get us in the position we're in heading into the conference tournament."
 
Up Next: The Owls now turn their attention to the ASUN Conference Tournament, playing the winner of Liberty and North Florida in the semifinals Friday (Nov. 22) at 7:30 p.m.