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KENNESAW, Ga. – Kennesaw State Volleyball could not keep the momentum going from its opening set win, as the Owls dropped a key home match to ASUN rival FGCU 3-1 (25-17, 21-25, 22-25, 16-25) on Saturday night from the Convocation Center. The loss snapped KSU's 15-game home win streak that had been tied for the longest in school history, and more importantly dropped the Owls out of first place into third at 9-3, just half a game ahead of fourth place squads FGCU and Central Arkansas.
STAT OF THE GAME: After posting a .367 hitting percentage in the first set, the Owls would finish with a .237 in set two, .135 in set three and a .071 in the final set. For the game, KSU finished at .190 (48K-20E-147TA).
SET ONE: KSU came out on fire, scoring seven of the first eight points for a 7-1 advantage. The Owls led comfortably the entire set, only letting FGCU within four once before closing out the eight-point win.
SET TWO: This time the Eagles jumped out early, going up 5-1. KSU battled, closing within 15-13 but that was also the last time the Owls were within two in the set.
SET THREE: The deciding set of the match, though at the start this looked to go the way of the home team, with KSU using a 7-1 run to go up 14-8. A kill from Manu Johnsen had the Owls ahead 19-15, just six points away from taking the set, when the Eagles made their move. A 5-0 run put FGCU ahead, and after the score was tied twice at 20-20 and 21-21, FGCU took advantage of KSU errors on three of the final four points to steal the set 25-22.
SET FOUR: The Eagles went ahead 8-2 early and held off any Owl rally to close out the set.
NOTES:
-The Owls' last loss in the Convocation Center was 3-0 to South Carolina on Sept. 9, 2021.
-For the second straight night, leading the Owls offensively was Johnsen, with another double-double of 17 kills and 11 digs, while she also contributed three blocks.
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Lanie Vantrease followed up her 14-kill night from a day ago with 11 against FGCU, while
Emma Schurfranz added 10.
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McKinley Ferguson finished with 39 assists, while
Shelby Dennis' 17 digs were a team-high.
-One key factor in the loss for the Owls was behind the service line, as though KSU held an 8-7 edge on aces, they also committed seven more costly service errors (12-5).
NEXT TIME OUT: The Owls will close out the regular season with three of its final four on the road, starting with a pair of games in Tennessee next weekend. First up will be a meeting with new ASUN member Austin Peay on Friday, Nov. 4 at 7 pm in Clarksville. That will be followed by a Saturday, Nov. 5 match at Lipscomb in Nashville, also at 7 pm.
