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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Kennesaw State's struggles away from home continued, as the Owls dropped a third straight road match Saturday night by a 3-1 score (25-21, 30-32, 14-25, 22-25) at Lipscomb in ASUN volleyball action from Allen Arena. The loss dropped KSU to 16-8 overall, and 9-5 in league play, putting the Owls in sixth place with two games left in the regular season. Lipscomb meanwhile improved to 13-12, 10-4 in the ASUN.
STAT OF THE GAME: The match could have gone either way in a highly contested second set, that saw six lead changes and a total of 21 ties. The Bison would hold on for a 32-30 win, the highest-scoring set KSU has played in this year, and used the momentum to win the next two sets for the victory.
SET ONE: A tight match at the start, the Owls reeled off two straight points for an 8-6 edge and never trailed again. They could never shake the Bison in that opening set however, and Lispcomb was still within two at 20-18, before then holding off two straight set points. The Owls took advantage of an attack error to end the set with the 25-21 victory.
SET TWO: This was anyone's set, as after the Bison opened up an early 5-2 lead, KSU came back to tie the set at 5-5 for the first of numerous tie points. Lipscomb reached set point first, KSU would have its first set point at 28-27 but both teams kept competing. Service errors from both teams left Lipscomb up 31-30, and the Bison came up with a kill to end the set at 32-30.
SET THREE: Emma Schurfranz posted a kill to bring KSU within 13-11, and the Bison responded by scoring seven of the next eight points, part of a 12-3 run to end the set.
SET FOUR: KSU came out strong, as kills from
Claire Parsons and
Jasmine Brown put the Owls up 4-1. The Owls led for the majority of the set, and were up 21-20 before a 3-0 run by the home team gave them their first lead at 23-21. Schurfranz stopped the run with a kill, but two more points from the Bison finished the set and the match.
QUOTEABLE: "This was certainly a better effort tonight. We played together as a team, unlike last night. We just need to sustain longer stretches of good, consistent play. Right now the main thing is we need to rest. We're tired, both mentally and physically. Before the tournament starts, we need to figure a way to play with more confidence. If we can find our confidence again, I like our chances."
– KSU head coach Keith Schunzel
NOTES:
-Three Owls finished in double-figures for kills, led by
Dani Ballou (15). Schurfranz added 14 and Manu Johnsen 10.
-
McKinley Ferguson posted 43 assists and 14 digs for a double-double, while
Shelby Dennis added 25 digs.
-As a team, KSU hit .219 (52K-22E-137TA) while the Bison held a .237 (62K-18E-161TA) for the night. That helped the Bison overcome 14 service errors in the match.
NEXT TIME OUT: It's déjà vu for the Owls as they make a return trip to Nashville to again face the Bison on Friday, Nov. 11 at 7 pm.
