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DELAND, Fla. – With its backs to the wall facing a 2-0 deficit and a potential big setback to its conference tournament hopes, Kennesaw State stepped up to the pressure and pulled off a huge comeback, rallying for a 3-2 (23-25, 23-25, 25-22, 25-20, 15-9) victory at Stetson in Atlantic Sun Conference volleyball action on Saturday night. The season sweep over the Hatters moved KSU to 15-10 overall and kept the Owls in a tie for fourth place along with North Florida, as both teams have 8-6 league marks. The win also clinched a spot in the 2023 Atlantic Sun Volleyball Tournament, as the top eight teams from the regular season advance to the three-day tournament on Nov. 16-18 at FGCU.
STAT OF THE GAME: The Owls hit .469 (18K-3E-32TA) in the fourth set and .500 (10K-0E-20TA) in the clinching fifth set. Stetson meanwhile was limited to just .167 (8K-4E-24TA) in the final set.
OWL OF THE GAME: Sophomore
Manu Johnsen just missed out on tying a school record, as she notched a career-high tying 27 kills in the five-set match. She added a career-high 20 digs for her 11
th double-double of the season, and .299 (27K-7E-67TA) in the victory.
THE RUNDOWN – Things did not look good for KSU at the start, as Stetson opened up a 19-10 edge in the first set. The Owls then showed the fight they would have in them all night long, scoring 13 of the next 16 points to go up 23-22. Stetson would score three straight to grab the win, but that was a sign of things to come. Set two was back and forth the entire way, with the lead changing hands several times. The score was tied at 22-22 but a 3-1 run would give the Hatters the set and a 2-0 advantage. KSU made its charge in the next set, as it never trailed and turned a 4-3 advantage into a 12-5 lead before holding off a late Stetson run for its first set win of the match. The game was truly decided in the fourth set, after the Hatters tied the score at 9-9. However, the visibly tired Stetson squad would give up a 7-2 run and never seriously threatened the Owls the rest of the way. Again, the Owls would not trail in the fifth set, and holding a 7-6 edge, the Owls scored five of the next six points for a 12-7 advantage before closing out the 15-9 win.
POSTGAME QUOTES
KSU HEAD COACH KEITH SCHUNZEL
"Nice response from our group tonight. That's a good team and not an easy place to win, and I thought overall we had a really, really nice mental response tonight. We fought and showed the grittiness needed to win on the road against good teams."
NOTES
-This is the second time this season the Owls came back from a 2-0 deficit to claim a victory, with the other win coming at home over Mississippi State.
-KSU is now 6-4 this season in five-set matches.
-The win was the Owls' seventh straight in the all-time series against Stetson, which is led by KSU 22-6.
-Johnson's 27 kills is tied with her 27-kill performance against Central Arkansas on Nov. 13, 2022. The only other Owl with more kills in a match was Justine Young with 28 on Oct. 29, 2011 against USC Upstate.
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Maggie Butkovich,
Olivia Burrage and
Haley Patterson all posted new career-highs in kills in the win, with 16, 14 and nine, respectively.
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Kourtney Brown's 61 assists is a new career-high and tied for the fifth-most ever in a match at KSU.
-Two Owls finished with 20+ digs, as
Shelby Dennis posted a team-high 21.
NEXT TIME OUT: The Owls will play their final regular season road game at travel partner Queens on Thursday, Nov. 9 at 7 p.m., before closing out the regular season with a Senior Day match in the Convocation Center on Saturday, Nov. 11 at 3 p.m.
