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KENNESAW, Ga. – Kennesaw State kept it rolling Sunday afternoon, increasing the nation's 12th-longest win streak to nine games with a huge 3-1 (25-21, 25-18, 12-25, 25-22) upset victory over first-place FGCU in the Convocation Center. The Owls moved to 17-8 overall, 11-3 in ASUN play to stay tied for second in the East Division with North Florida. FGCU meanwhile had come into the game with the fifth-longest win streak in the nation (15-games)  and had only dropped a total of three sets in ASUN play, but suffered its first loss since September to fall to 22-5, 14-1 in the conference.

OWL OF THE GAME: Sunday was the final home game for four Owl seniors, most notably Lauren Chastang, and she made sure she was going out in winning fashion thanks to a team-high 12 kills, four digs, and two blocks. She was also responsible for the deciding stretch of the game, as with the Eagles threatening in the fourth set after claiming a set three win, Chastang scored four points during a 6-0 run that turned a 6-3 deficit into a 9-6 advantage for the Owls. Three of the four points were aces by the all-time aces leader in Owl history, and KSU never trailed again in the set.

STAT OF THE GAME: The Owls hit .200 or better in three of four sets on Sunday, while FGCU was under .200 in three of its four sets.

SET ONE: FGCU took the first point but it was all KSU after that, thanks to a 6-1 run for an early four-point lead. The Owls slowly increased their lead to as large as seven, 21-14, and finished off with a four-point win.

SET TWO: It was a tie score at 4-4 with a 4-0 run, which included a pair of aces, gave the Owls a four-point edge, and they would lead by at least three points the rest of the way. A 3-0 spurt closed out the set for KSU.

SET THREE: FGCU wasn't going away easily, and never trailed in the third set. It was still a one-point game though at 12-11 when the Eagles finished off by scoring 13 of the final 14 points to close within 2-1 overall in the match.

SET FOUR: The Eagles still had the momentum from set three, going up 5-2 early. After the teams traded points, an attack error started the deciding run for the Owls. It did get interesting at the end when the Eagles saved off match points three times before a kill from Emma Schurfranz completed the upset.

QUOTEABLE: "That's obviously a really good win for our team coming down the stretch of the regular season. FGCU is having a heck of a year and they do so many things that challenge you. But today we were able to play three extremely high level, consistent sets of volleyball in every phase of the game. Very proud of our team for continuing to improve as this fall has gone on, and in the last few weeks that has really shown." – KSU head coach Keith Schunzel 

NOTES: 

• Joining Chastang in double-figures for kills was Dani Ballou with 11, while she also added four blocks.
• Other Owls posting strong games Sunday included: McKinley Ferguson (37 assists, three blocks), Jasmine Brown (five kills, six blocks) and Shelby Dennis (16 digs). 
• The Owls have clinched a top-three seed in the East Division, but most likely need to win at North Florida in their next game on Friday in Jacksonville to claim the second-overall East seed for the 2021 ASUN Tournament.