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Score: Kennesaw State 3, Liberty 1 (22-25, 25-23, 25-14, 25-23)
Records: Kennesaw State (10-0, 10-0), Liberty (2-7, 2-6)
Key Players: Emma Schurfranz (18 kills, 5 blks, .517 hit pct.), Claire Parsons (8 kills, 6 blks, 2 aces), Lauren Chastang (11 kills, 7 digs, 3 aces), Chelsey Abel (8 kills, 2 blks), Lanie Vantrease (8 kills, 3 digs), Jessie Cohen (41 assts, 2 kills, 3 digs), Karlee Groover (17 digs) and Bri Becerra (11 digs).
 
THE STORYLINE 
The Kennesaw State volleyball team felt the heat early, dropping the opening set to the visiting Flames before battling back to down Liberty in four sets, 22-25, 25-23, 25-14, 25-23, to cap off a perfect 6-0 home record and improve to 10-0 on the season.

SCHUNZEL QUOTES
On the four-set battle…
"Our group is going to continue to fight, that's what we've built this program on, that's the kind of players that we have so the fight is going to be there. It was really good for us to feel a tight match and that pressure, to be up and down a little bit with some of our play and have to find other ways to win sets and find other ways to score points. I'm proud of our team for coming up with plays when we needed it at the end of sets and at the end of the match."

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Flames rose in the opening set racing out to a 5-2 lead. After leveling the match, KSU pulled in front behind a 3-0 run capped off by a kill from Emma Schurfranz to lead 10-8. The teams traded points as the Owls remained in front with a solo block by Claire Parsons ending a quick 4-1 swing to make it 17-13. Liberty responded with a similar run to pull within one, 18-17, eventually tying the match at 20-20. After a kill From Chelsey Abel gave the Owls a 22-21 advantage, the Flames closed it out on a 4-0 run to win the opening set 25-22. Liberty hit .379 in the set to grab the early lead.
 
KSU came out fired up in the second set to jump out to a 9-2 lead thanks to three kills from Schurfranz and two apiece from Abel and Lauren Chastang. The Owls held on to their seven-point advantage throughout most of the set, leading 18-11 following an ace from Addi Goede. That's when Liberty turned the tables, ripping off a 9-1 run to take the lead 22-20. Lanie Vantrease finally ended the Flames' run with back-to-back kills before two straight Liberty errors gave KSU set point 24-22. Liberty tried to rally back with a block, but Vantrease came through with another kill to earn the 25-23 set victory and put the teams back on level terms.
 
The Owls rolled that momentum into the third set taking an 8-1 lead capped off by back-to-back aces from Parsons. Liberty cut the lead down to three, 8-5, following a 4-0 run, but KSU managed to re-gain its cushion recording seven of the next 10 points to lead 15-8. After back-to-back blocks from Schurfranz, combining with Abel for one, gave the Owls a 10-point lead 20-10, the two squads traded points down the stretch before a kill from Parsons gave KSU the 25-14 set victory. The Owls hit .429 in the third set compared to .040 for Liberty thanks in large part to six kills from Schurfranz who hit .625 in the set.
 
Both squads slugged it out in the opening minutes of the fourth set before a 4-0 run capped off by a kill from Schurfranz gave KSU an 11-7 lead. The Owls took advantage of Liberty miscues to push their lead to 17-10. The Flames refused to go away though, chipping away at KSU's lead to cut the deficit to three 19-16. After trading points, the Owls found themselves at match point, 24-20, following a kill from Chastang. Looking to send the match to a fifth set, Liberty fended off three straight match points to pull within one 24-23 and force a KSU timeout. Out of the break, KSU found Schurfranz's hot hand as the sophomore put the nail in the coffin for her 18th kill and the match victory.

NOTES
- Emma Schurfranz was one kill shy of tying her career-high, hitting .517 for the match to mark her third match this year hitting .500 or better.
- Claire Parsons led the team with six blocks, her third match in the last four with six or more stuffs.
- Lanie Vantrease tied her career-high with eight kills.
- Karlee Groover tied her season-high with 16 digs while Bri Becerra recorded her third match this season with double-digit digs finishing with 11.
- Lauren Chastang recorded three aces in the match, giving her 101 for her career to make her just the second Owl in program history to hit the century mark for career aces.
- This is the fourth time in program history KSU has recorded 10 or more straight wins.

UP NEXT
The Owls will look to make it a perfect season closing out the regular season next weekend at Lipscomb (Mar. 12-13).