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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Kennesaw State volleyball opened the season in winning fashion on Friday afternoon, winning three of four sets for a 3-1 (25-17, 16-25, 25-19, 25-12) victory over Western Carolina in the first game of the Wake Forest Invitational in Reynolds Gymnasium.

STAT OF THE GAME: The Owls used a balanced team attack, as four KSU players had nine or more kills, while a fifth finished with seven. Also key in the match, WCU was held to a .000 hitting percentage in the first set, and a -.069 in the deciding fourth set.

OWL OF THE GAME: Senior Dani Ballou was everywhere on Friday. She tied for the team lead with 10 kills, while setting new career-highs in aces (team-high four) and digs (team-high 17).

SET ONE: KSU took an early 6-3 lead but the Catamounts clawed back into the set, knotting the score at 9-9. A 4-0 run from the Owls was all the momentum needed, as that was followed by a 10-3 spurt, capped by an ace from Emma Schurfranz. Back-to-back kills from Lanie Vantrease and Chelsey Abel finished off the set.

SET TWO: The next set was in the Catamounts hands from the start, as WCU jumped to a 5-1 edge. KSU closed within 10-7, before a 10-2 run effectively put the set out of reach.

SET THREE: KSU bounced back in strong form, using an early 4-0 spurt to grab a 6-3 lead off a Ballou kill. WCU stayed close and cut the margin to 15-14, before Jasmine Brown recorded a kill to start a 6-0 Owl run. McKinely Ferguson finished off the set with a kill of her own to put KSU ahead 2-1.

SET FOUR: The Owls turned a 3-1 deficit into a 7-4 advantage at the start of the fourth. WCU managed to close within 7-6, and that was it. A 5-0 spurt from KSU turned into an eventual 17-4 run, with Jasmine Brown providing the match-winning kill.

QUOTEABLE: "Tonight was a ice start for us, it's always good to kick things off with a win. We competed really hard all night which for years has been the most important thing in our program. We played three of the four sets at a good level. Being consistently good early in the year is always a challenge and a goal, and we did that for the most part tonight. We also had some really nice backrow play from our smalls tonight, who kept us in system and dug a bunch of balls." – KSU head coach Keith Schunzel 

NOTES: 
- Brown joined Ballou in double-figures for kills with 10, while Vantrease finished with a career-high nine.
- Ferguson paced the Owls in assists (37), and Abel led the team with six blocks.
- KSU held a 9-4 lead in team blocks. The Owls' finished the match with a .261 hitting percentage, while WCU posted a .173 for the day.
- This was the first-ever win for KSU over Western Carolina, after losing the first two meetings in the 2006 and 2007 seasons.
- KSU won its season opener for the sixth straight season, as its last loss was a 3-2 setback to Missouri to open the 2016 season.  

NEXT TIME OUT: The Owls remain in Winston-Salem to face NC Central on Saturday at 10 am, before closing out play in the invitational against the host Wake Forest Demon Deacons at 7 pm.