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CINCINNATI – Facing a tough Big East opponent on its home court, Kennesaw State volleyball put up a tough fight but couldn't come up with the road win, falling to Xavier 3-0 (21-25, 22-25, 20-25) on Saturday at the Cintas Center. The Owls end their non-conference season with a 7-4 mark, while the host Musketeers improved to 7-4.
STAT OF THE GAME: Xavier's .333 hitting percentage (43K-11E-96TA) was the highest of the season by an Owl opponent. Xavier also held a significant advantage on services aces at 12-5.
THE RUNDOWN – Despite a back and forth set, the Owls couldn't keep up with Xavier's .600 hitting percentage in the first set. The Owls were still within 20-19 though but Xavier scored five of the last seven points to take a 1-0 lead. In the second set, XU went up 17-11 before a 6-0 KSU spurt tied the set at 17-17 off a kill by McKinley Ferguson. The set was tied several times more, the last at 21-22, put a pair of attack errors would sink the Owls' chances to tie the match. XU jumped out to a 6-1 lead in set three and though the Owls kept it close, they could never get ahead of the Musketeers, dropping the match in straight sets.
POST-GAME QUOTES
KSU HEAD COACH KEITH SCHUNZEL
"Today just wasn't our day. Credit to Xavier who passed and served about as well as they can and as well as they have all year. Even with that, our players actually made some really nice adjustments defensively in the second and third sets. We just got aced way too many times, which is abnormal for us, and then we were a step behind on enough points each set that the 4-point margin was the result. We definitely had some opportunities each set, just didn't capitalize on enough of them to extend the match. Proud of our team for a really nice non-conference. We played a tough schedule, we won a lot of ball games and we grew a ton. We need to rest and reset and get back in the gym next week and prepare for a tough 16-game conference schedule."
NOTES
-This was the first-ever meeting between KSU and Xavier in volleyball.
-Manu Johnsen paced the Owls with 10 kills, while Claire Parsons and Emma Schurfranz both had nine each.
-McKinley Ferguson posted 28 assists in the three-set match, while Shelby Dennis added 14 digs.
-As a team, KSU hit .247 (39K-15E-97TA).
NEXT TIME OUT: The Owls are off until Saturday, Sept. 23, when they open Atlantic Sun play on the road with a 1 p.m. contest in Richmond, Ky., at Eastern Kentucky.
