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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Friday was an expected showdown between two of the top teams in the ASUN with second seed in the East Division on line. Instead of a tight battle though, Kennesaw State had other ideas, claiming a 3-0 (25-21, 25-15, 25-22) sweep over North Florida to improve to 12-3 in league play (18-8 overall) with its 10th straight win. The Owls' season sweep over the Ospreys (22-6, 11-4) gives KSU the second seed in the East in next week's ASUN Tournament.
STAT OF THE GAME: KSU posted an impressive .284 hitting percentage on the road (40K-13E-95TA), including a .417 in the set. The Ospreys meanwhile finished under .200 for the night (34K-18E-93TA - .172).
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Jasmine Brown finished the night with a .692 hitting percentage thanks to nine kills out of 13 total attacks with no errors for the game. She also added a team-high three blocks in the victory.
SET ONE: UNF led just once, at 1-0. KSU then scored the next four points for a 4-1 lead and never looked back. The Owls led by as much as 10 twice in the match (14-4, 15-5), and then sealed the set with back-to-back kills from Brown.
SET TWO: This set was closer at the start, as though the Owls never trailed, they were up just 11-10 nearly midway through. A 3-0 spurt began an overall 14-5 run to end the set, giving KSU an eventually easy 10-point set victory.
SET THREE: Again the Owls had a lead at the start, and were ahead 9-6 when the Ospreys made their best challenge of the night. Seven unanswered points from UNF had KSU on its heels, down by its largest margin of the night at 13-9. The lead then switched hands twice between the teams, with UNF going ahead 20-19. Three straight errors by UNF put the Owls back ahead, and KSU scored the final three points to close out the contest.
QUOTABLE: "We continue to play with consistency and confidence and it's simply a lot of fun to be a part of. Watching our women compete, execute game plans and play free like this is really special." – KSU Head Coach Keith Schunzel
A FEW NOTES
- KSU's 10-game win streak is its longest since winning the first 10 games of the 2021 spring season, and is tied for the ninth longest active win streak in the nation.
- The win clinched the second East seed in next week's ASUN Tournament for KSU, which puts the Owls in a quarterfinal match with West third seed Eastern Kentucky on Thursday, Nov. 18 at 10 am. This year's ASUN Tournament is being played on the campus of FGCU in Fort Myers, Fla.
- The Owls now have three season sweeps of division opponents (Stetson, Liberty, North Florida), and are looking for number four Saturday night against Jacksonville. This was just the second time all season that UNF was swept in a match.
- Leading the Owls offensively Friday night was Lauren Chastang and Emma Schurfranz, both with 10 kills each.
- McKinley posted a team-high 30 assists and Shelby Dennis paced the Owls with 16 digs.
- Dani Ballou moved into sole possession of seventh place on the all-time kills list at KSU with 786.
NEXT TIME OUT: The Owls close out the regular season by staying in Jacksonville to take on the Jacksonville University Dolphins at 7 pm on Saturday.
