By: Mark Wasik
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BOZEMAN, Mont. – Kennesaw State volleyball dropped just one set total over two games on Friday, as the Owls topped North Dakota 3-0 (35-33, 25-16, 25-18) and then claimed their first-ever win against a Pac-12 school, 3-1 (25-15, 17-25, 25-18, 25-18) over Oregon State. That gave KSU a 2-0 start to the year on the opening day of the 2023 volleyball season at the Bobcat Blackridge Invite, hosted by Montana State in Shroyer Gymnasium.
GAME ONE RECAP – KSU and UND played a marathon of an opening first set of the year, that was back and forth the entire time until the Owls finally held on for a 35-33 victory. It was an impressive win for KSU after trailing 16-11 and 22-18 earlier in the set, before scoring five unanswered for a 23-22 edge. Eight times KSU held set point and eight times the Eagles would tie the set, before McKinley Ferguson and Lanie Vantrease scored on back-to-back kills to lift the Owls. KSU then jumped out to 13-6 and 14-7 leads in sets two and three, respectively, on the way to the sweep.
OWL OF THE GAME: Senior Emma Schurfranz finished with her highest kill total since 2021 with 16, including nine in the opening set to pace the Owls. She finished with a .481 attack percentage (16K-3E-27TA) while adding two blocks and two digs.
STAT OF THE GAME: After allowing UND to hit .244 in the opening set, KSU held the Fighting Eagles to just .067 in set two and .200 in set three.
POST-GAME QUOTES
KSU HEAD COACH KEITH SCHUNZEL
"I'm really happy with that performance for our opening game. We worked through some sloppiness early, then we cleaned it up and were aggressive on offense to put ourselves in total control in sets two and three. It's a long weekend and a long season, but this was a nice start for our group."
NOTES
-Joining Schurfranz in double-digits for kills was Manu Johnsen with 12, while she also posted seven digs, with Vantrease just behind with nine.
-Ferguson posted 43 assists, which tied for the fourth-most in a three-set match by an Owl in team history.
-Ferguson also collected a team-high three aces, while Claire Parsons paced the team in blocks (four) and Shelby Dennis had a team-leading 14 digs.
-KSU hit .333 (52K-17A-105TA) for the game, including .419 (18K-5E-31TA) in the third set.
-This was the first-ever meeting between Kennesaw State and North Dakota in volleyball.
GAME TWO RECAP – KSU jumped out to a big lead in the first set, scoring 13 of the first 17 points on the way to a quick 25-15 win. Set two had OSU score the first three points and the Beavers never gave up the lead to tie the match at 1-1. In set three, KSU trailed 12-11 when it reeled off 10 of the next 12 points for a 21-14 advantage, eventually leading to a 25-18 win and a 2-1 advantage. The final set could have gone either way, with the lead changing hands several times while the score was tied nine times. Back-to-back kills put OSU up 16-14, but Schurfranz responded with two straight kills of her own, while Dennis recorded back-to-back aces for a 4-0 run and an 18-16 lead. With KSU up 22-18, three consecutive kills, from Ferguson, Vantrease and Parsons finished off the set and the match.
OWL OF THE GAME: Schurfranz just missed out on a double-double, as she recorded a match-high tying 15 kills. That pushed her over the 1,000 career kill mark, giving her 1,004 as an Owl which ranks her seventh all-time in KSU history. She also added nine digs, three blocks, a game-high four aces, and finished with a .382 hitting percentage (15K-2E-34TA).
STAT OF THE GAME: The Owls finished with 11 total blocks in the match to five for the Beavers.
POST-GAME QUOTES
KSU HEAD COACH KEITH SCHUNZEL
"Really proud of our team, our women competed hard tonight. We came out flat in set two, but then responded in a big way the rest of the match to close out the win. That's a nice sign of maturity from our bunch to respond like that. I've been super impressed with our ball handlers so far this weekend. Manu (Johnsen) and Emma (Schurfranz) both had monster games on the pins and Lou (McKinley Ferguson) set her second nice match of the day."
NOTES
-This was the first-ever win against a team from the Pac-12 for the Owls in three total contests. It was also the first-ever meeting between KSU and the Beavers.
-Friday also marked the first win over a Power Five team since KSU swept Alabama 3-0 on Sept. 7, 2021 in Kennesaw.
-Johnsen tied Schurfranz with 15 kills in the contest, while Vantrease finished with nine kills for the second straight game.
-Ferguson posted 40 assists, Dennis recorded 14 digs, and freshman Olivia Burrage led all players with six total blocks.
-KSU finished the game hitting .286 (50K-14E-126TA), including a match-high .370 in the opening set.
NEXT TIME OUT: The Owls close out play in the Bobcat Blackridge Invite on Saturday with a 9 pm match against host Montana State on ESPN+.
