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FORT MYERS, Fla. – Kennesaw State Volleyball claimed the first set of the night but could not hold back a charge from the home team, falling to first-place FGCU 3-1 (20-25, 25-16, 25-15, 25-22) on Friday night in Atlantic Sun Conference action from Alico Arena. The Owls dropped to 14-10 overall, and 7-6 in league action, putting them in a five-way tie for fourth in the ASUN, along with Bellarmine, North Alabama, North Florida and Stetson.
STAT OF THE GAME: After opening the night with a .304 hitting percentage in the first set, the Owls would proceed to hit -0.118, 0.097 and 0.194 over the next three to finish at .101 (37K-25E-119TA) for the game.
THE RUNDOWN – The Owls trailed 15-13 in the first set when they reeled off an 11-3 run, going up 24-18 on the way to the opening set win. KSU then opened set with a 5-1 edge, but a 9-1 spurt by the home team would put them ahead 13-8 and the Eagles would eventually win the set by nine. Set three saw FGCU open with a 5-1 lead, and this time KSU would not rally for a lead, with the Eagles going up by as much as 11 before claiming a 10-point win. The fourth set was a tighter battle, with the score tied at 14-14 before a 3-0 spurt put the Eagles ahead for good. FGCU would nearly close out the set with a 23-17 edge, but the Owls scored five of the next six points to make things interesting, closing within 24-22, before the Eagles recorded a kill to finish the match.
POSTGAME QUOTES
KSU HEAD COACH KEITH SCHUNZEL
"There comes a moment for all teams when they have to decide who they are and what they want to happen with what's left. And we're at that moment. We're world beaters at home and by and large we're aggressive and confident and we take care of who we should. But when we get on the road, and we go against the better teams who challenge us, we very much back down and play soft when a team pushes on us. Our players need to decide if that's who we are or not. And that's not just an effort thing. We have to be able to get to a mental place where we can execute on the road and play consistently up to our ability. Stetson will push on us tomorrow night, I hope we respond better than we did tonight."
NOTES
-The loss not only snapped a three-game win streak for KSU, the Owls had recorded a season-long 10-set win streak thanks to claiming the first set on Friday, before dropping the next three.
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Manu Johnsen paced KSU with 15 kills and a .293 hitting percentage (15K-3E-41TA).
Emma Schurfranz also finished in double-figures with 10 kills.
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Shelby Dennis led the Owls with 13 digs, three players had two blocks each, Schurfranz led the team with three aces and
Kourtney Brown posted a team-high 33 assists.
NEXT TIME OUT: The Owls stay in the Sunshine State to face Stetson on Saturday at 6 p.m. in DeLand.
