KSU at Jacksonville State Box Score
 
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JACKSONVILLE, Ala. – One week after a disappointing performance at Liberty, Kennesaw State came out with Friday night with its most impressive game of the season, as the Owls claimed one of the best road wins in program history with a 3-0 (25-16, 27-25, 25-20) sweep over first-place Jacksonville State in ASUN volleyball action from Pete Mathews Coliseum. KSU handed the Gamecocks just their second loss of the season, dropping JSU to 16-1 overall (4-1 ASUN), as their only other loss this season was 3-2 at home to Auburn on Sept. 17. The Owls meanwhile improved to 11-4, and 4-1 in league play to force a three-way tie at the top of the standings, along with Liberty.
 
STAT OF THE GAME: The Owls excelled in several areas on Friday night, most notably with their hitting as KSU finished the night with a .292 hitting percentage (41K-13E-96TA), while JSU was held under .200. The Gamecocks had come in hitting almost .300 for the season, while limiting their opponents to .151, both of which ranked in the top-11 in the nation.

OWL OF THE GAME: Jasmine Brown had a huge night on offense for KSU, tying for the team lead with 11 kills while finishing with a .588 hitting percentage (11K-1E-17TA). She also notched three block assists in the contest.

SET ONE: JSU held the early lead, and went up 7-5, before the Owls responded with a big 7-0 run and they never trailed again. McKinley Ferguson recorded three straight aces during the spurt, while a Dani Ballou kill put KSU up 12-7. The Gamecocks came no closer than three, while KSU led by as much as nine before finishing out the set.

SET TWO: Again, a big KSU run midway through gave the Owls the momentum. This time they trailed 7-8 before scoring eight of the next nine points for a 15-9 advantage. The lead grew as high as eight and KSU looked ready to run away with a 2-0 set lead. However, the Gamecocks held off two set points to force a 24-24 tie, and again held off a 25-24 set point. Back-to-back kills ended the comeback attack for the 27-25 win.
SET THREE: KSU trailed just once at 1-0, and slowly built a 16-10 advantage before closing out the victory thanks to another Ballou kill.

QUOTEABLE: "Thought we played a really nice match, that was by far one of the most consistent matches we've played in a while so that was nice to see. We did a great job spreading the ball tonight, and proud of the women of coming on the road and beating a really nice team in Jacksonville State." – KSU head coach Keith Schunzel 

NOTES: 
-Jacksonville State came into the match as the top RPI school in the ASUN at 47, while the Owls were 61.
-The Owls avenged a pair of 3-2 losses to the Gamecocks from the 2021 season, including in the semifinals of the ASUN Tournament.
-KSU finished with the edge in both aces (9-3) and blocks (7-2).
-Joining Brown in double-figures for kills was Ballou with 11. Claire Parsons and Manu Johnsen meanwhile both had seven each.
-Ferguson finished with 30 assists, four aces and seven digs.

NEXT TIME OUT: The Owls are back in action against the same Jacksonville State squad on Sunday, Oct. 9 with a 1 pm contest in the Convocation Center, in a game that will also be streamed live on ESPN+.
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