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GREENVILLE, S.C. – Kennesaw State volleyball claimed a second straight road victory Thursday night, rallying from a 1-0 deficit with three straight set wins for a 3-1 (25-27, 28-26, 25-22, 25-16) triumph at Furman from Alley Gym. Paired with the Owls' win at Samford on Tuesday night, KSU is now 3-1 on the road this season and 6-4 overall, while the Paladins dropped to 5-4.
The first two sets could not have been any closer, with a total of 28 ties combined. The Owls held set point at 25-24 in the first before Furman rallied with three of the next four points for the win. KSU pulled off the same feat in the next set, trailing 24-23 before rallying for a 28-26 victory.
THE TURNING POINT: The Owls nearly gave up a set in which they held four-point leads twice, the last at 18-14. Furman bounced back though and went up 22-21. KSU then reeled off four straight points to claim the set, and then opened the fourth set by scoring 13 of the first 16 points to take control. They were never threatened in that final set as the Owls closed out the nine-point set win for the match.
OWL OF THE GAME: Lauren Chastang made a big impact for KSU Thursday night, posting her team-high fourth double-double of the season thanks to a game-high 19 kills and 15 digs. She also added a pair of two key block assists in the win.
STAT OF THE GAME: KSU's hitting percentage of .241 (60 K-19 E-170 TA) was .040 higher than the host Paladins.
QUOTEABLE: "Couldn't be prouder of our group for that win and for how we competed tonight. That's as hard as we've had to fight all year. Furman has a good team and plays in a tough, loud, small, hot gym that challenges you emotionally and physically. Even more impressive, we had to swing to win set 1, lost the point and eventually the set and still found a way to come back and win the next three sets. That was also an incredibly gritty performance from Chastang tonight, who continues to define competitive greatness. We're growing and learning who we are and how we need to compete and play, and that's an awesome thing to see as a coach."– KSU head coach Keith Schunzel
NOTES:
- In addition to Chastang, also posting double-figures in kills was Schurfranz with 14 and Dani Ballou with 12. Schurfranz added a .423 hitting percentage (14-3-26) to pace the Owls.
- A season-high four Owls posted double-figure digs. Leading the way was Chastang and Bri Becerra (15), along with Shelby Dennis (11) and Caroline Cole (10).
- McKinley Ferguson notched 40 assists as well for the Owls.
NEXT TIME OUT
The Owls are back in action Friday as they remain in Greenville to face High Point at 1 pm.
