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Score: Kennesaw State 3, Bellarmine 2 (24-26, 16-25, 25-12, 25-21, 15-11)
Records: Kennesaw State (1-0, 1-0), Bellarmine (1-4, 0-1)
Key Players: Lauren Chastang (23 kills, 11 digs, 2 aces), Emma Schurfranz (19 kills, 4 blks, .382 atk pct), Dani Ballou (13 kills, 1 blk), Jessie Cohen (53 assts, 9 digs, 6 aces) and Karlee Groover (13 digs,  2 aces)
 
THE STORYLINE: 
The Kennesaw State volleyball team opened the 2021 spring season in spectacular fashion Friday night, fighting back after dropping the first two sets to down Bellarmine in five sets (24-26, 16-25, 25-12, 25-21, 15-11). Louisville native Emma Schurfranz had a career night in her hometown, recording 19 kills, four blocks and two aces, all career-highs, to help spur on the Owls alongside Lauren Chastang who logged a double-double with 23 kills and 11 digs.

SCHUNZEL QUOTES:
On the Owls' rally…
"Super proud of our team for showing the fight that our program has been built on. Bellarmine has a really nice team so we knew this was going to be a hard weekend."

On big performances...
"So many great performances tonight. Emma Schurfranz settled in really well and played better and better as the match went on coming up with huge kills, blocks and serving runs in big moments. Same for Jessie Cohen in her first career start. She started to really work into a groove in set three and our offense started rolling. Add her serving and a bunch of timely digs on top of that and she ended up having a really nice first career start. Proud of the work she's put in to get her game to where it's at and earn her first career win as the starting setter. Chastang and Groover do what they always do, which is lead our team, compete their brains out and play at an all-conference level."

HOW IT HAPPENED:
After falling behind 2-0 in the opening set, the Owls rattled off an 8-1 run to lead 8-3. KSU remained in front pushing their lead to as high as 17-10 following three kills from Lauren Chastang and a Bellarmine error. Trailing 19-12, the Knights rallied with a 7-0 run to tie it up 19-19. The two squads traded points down to the wire until Bellarmine managed to get the upper hand with back-to-back kills to secure the first set victory 26-24.

It was back-and-forth in the early part of the second set before the Knights pulled ahead behind a quick 3-0 run, 6-3. KSU eventually tied it up thanks to two straight kills from Emma Schurfranz to knot the set at 9-9. After trading points Bellarmine took control with a 6-0 run to lead 17-12. The Knights kicked it into high gear scoring seven of the final nine points to down KSU 25-16 and send the Owls into intermission one set away from defeat. The Owls hit .083 in the second set compared to .344 for Bellarmine

The Owls flipped the switch in the third set jumping out to a 5-1 lead. Bellarmine answered to tie the set back up at 5-5, but the Owls ripped off a 10-0 run to lead 16-6. Jessie Cohen dominated at the service line throughout KSU's run recording four straight aces at one point. From there, the Owls cruised to a 25-12 victory, closing out the set on a 5-1 swing. KSU hit .348 in the set while Bellarmine hit -.042. Schurfranz had six kills on seven swings for a .714 hitting percentage in the set.

The fourth set was hotly contested as both teams battled back-and-forth locked at 14-14 midway through the set. KSU finally managed to gain the edge after a Knight error and back-to-back kills from Schurfranz to open a 5-0 run and give KSU a 19-15 lead. Bellarmine pulled it back to within two, 20-18, but KSU held the Knights at bay as a kill from Dani Ballou and an ace from Cohen sealed the 25-21 set win.

KSU jumped out to a 5-0 lead to open the final set. Bellarmine pulled it back to two points, 6-4, but a quick 3-0 run kept the Owls in front 9-4. KSU held the Knights at bay throughout the final set as Bellarmine tried to stay alive fending off back-to-back set points trailing 14-11. Chastang finally put the nail in the coffin with her 23rd kill of the night to tie her career-high and give the Owls the match victory.

NOTES
- Lauren Chastang earned her 33rd career double-double, tying her career-high with 23 kills.
- In her first start as KSU's setter, Jessie Cohen recorded 53 assists, nine digs and six aces, all career-highs.
- Emma Schurfranz recorded 19 kills, four blocks and two aces, all career-highs, while leading the team hitting .382.
- KSU combined for 16 errors in the first two sets and seven over the third and fourth sets.
- Katie Crocker logged a career-high five blocks.
- Karlee Groover led the team with 13 digs.
- As a team, KSU combined for 10 aces.

UP NEXT
The Owls turn around for game two against Bellarmine Saturday evening at 5 p.m. EST.