Follow KSU Volleyball on Social - Twitter  |  Instagram

KENNESAW, Ga. – Kennesaw State volleyball welcomed Clemson to the Convocation Center Friday night for the sixth annual Griffin's Game, the annual fundraiser for a local family dealing with childhood cancer. While the fundraiser was a success, with a season-high 1,102 fans in attendance, the Owls' play was not up to their normal high level as they dropped a 3-1 match (22-25, 25-15, 20-25, 23-25) to the Tigers to fall to 4-4 on the year. Clemson meanwhile improved to 4-2 with the win.

It was a close contest at the start, as the first set was anyone's match. With the score tied at 22-22, the Tigers scored three straight to claim the set win. The Owls soared high in the next set, using a dominating 11-0 run on the way to a dominating 25-15 set two victory. KSU came out flat in set three, allowing the Tigers to use a four-point spurt to go ahead 7-4, and they led by three or more points the rest of the way.

The fourth set again was up for grabs, with 15 ties and six lead changes. The teams traded points back to back for half the set, until late with the Owls reeled off a three-kill run to claim a 23-21 edge. Clemson responded with four straight of its own to steal the set at 25-23, claiming the overall match as well.

STAT OF THE GAME: The Owls have punished their opponents from the serve this season, and they did finish the match with seven aces to just two for the Tigers. However, KSU ended up hurting themselves more from behind the line on Friday, as it committed a season-high 18 service aces. That went along with 25 attack errors by the Owls as well.

QUOTEABLE: "That's as disappointing of a mental performance as I can remember from a Kennesaw State volleyball team in many years. We played scared, hesitant, scattered, unconfident. Whether we have key players injured or not, that was an undisciplined and wildly inconsistent match from nearly every one of our players who saw the floor tonight. We have to be so much better and more consistent to even dream of playing near the top of our league."– KSU head coach Keith Schunzel

NOTES: 

• Three Owls finished in double-figures for kills, paced by Emma Schurfranz who posted 17 kills and 17 digs for her first double-double of the season.
• Also in double-figures was Dani Ballou with 11 and Claire Parsons with 10 kills.
• Bri Becerra finished with 20 blocks to pace the Owls. Jessie Cohen (19) and McKinley Ferguson (14) split time at setter for KSU.
• KSU had its first negative hitting percentage set of the season in set on (-0.024), and then bounced back with a .346 in set two. For the match, the Owls finished with a .146 as a team.
• This week concluded the first time in program history KSU has played three straight Power Five teams, as the Owls defeated Alabama 3-0 on Tuesday before falling to No. 24 South Carolina 3-0 Thursday night.

NEXT TIME OUT
The Owls are on the road for a non-conference match at Samford in on Tuesday, Sept. 14 at 8 pm (ET) in Birmingham, Alabama.