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JACKSONVILLE, Ala. – Kennesaw State Volleyball used a huge rally to pull off a reverse sweep at Jacksonville State on Wednesday afternoon, coming back for a 3-2 (20-25, 15-25, 26-24, 26-24, 15-8) at Pete Mathews Coliseum. With the win, the Owls swept the season series with JSU thanks to Tuesday night's 3-0 win, and moved their record in Conference USA play to 3-3. It was also a milestone victory for KSU, as it was the 200
th career victory for Head Coach
Keith Schunzel.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Libero
Leah Freeman found a way to make an impact offensively, as she recorded a career-high six services aces, part of a season-high 13 aces by the Owls. Twice she scored the winning set point for KSU off an ace, while she also added a team-high 18 digs in the win.
STAT OF THE GAME: After hitting under .040 in its opening two sets, the Owls bounced back to post .205, .233 and .176 in the final three.
THE RUNDOWN – JSU took charge in the first set midway through, as an 8-2 run turned an 11-11 contest into a 19-13 advantage, leading to a 25-20 win. Set 2 was in the Gamecocks favor as well, using a 5-1 spurt to go up 11-6. KSU came no closer than four the rest of the way to fall behind 2-0.
The Gamecocks started out with the momentum in the third set as well, going up 10-7 and they led 18-16, just seven points away from closing out a sweep when the Owls made their move. A kill from
Ashlyn Anderson started a 7-1 run for KSU for a 23-19 lead. The Owls then held two set points, but was forced to extra play after Jax State tied the game at 24-24. KSU responded with kills from
Olivia Burrage and
Manu Johnsen for a 26-24 win.
The Owls kept the pressure up in set 4, starting out with a 5-1 edge that included a pair of aces from Freeman. KSU held the lead almost the entire set, and back-to-back aces from
Kaeley Walz put the Owls up 23-17. Jax State charged back, as a 4-0 and 3-0 run tied the score at 24-24. Again going to extra play, Johnsen recorded a kill while another Freeman ace sealed the set at 26-24.
The final set was all KSU at the start. After starting out with an attack error, KSU scored the next seven points, with another two aces from Freeman, for a 7-2 lead. The edge grew to 11-3 off kills from Walz and Burrage. Jax State didn't go away easy, closing within 11-8, but the Owls closed out with four straight points, the final coming off a
Kourtney Brown ace to complete the comeback.
POSTGAME QUOTES
KSU HEAD COACH KEITH SCHUNZEL
"A big resilient, comeback road win for our bunch tonight. Jax State had all the momentum in that match but we found a way to flip it and make some big plays down the stretch in set four and a couple great serving runs in set five. I'm proud of our team's fight and continued belief in what's been a challenging year."
NOTES
-The Owls moved their win streak in the all-time series to five straight with the win.
-Johnsen led KSU with 14 kills, while Burrage and Anderson had eight each.
-Walz posted 32 assists in the win, and Burrage posted a team-high four blocks.
-Freeman's six assists were the most by an Owl since
Manu Johnsen had five against North Alabama on Oct. 13, 2023. The team's 13 total aces were also the most since that same game.
NEXT TIME OUT: The Owls are back home to host Liberty on Saturday at 3 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. in the Convocation Center. Both games will be streamed live on ESPN+.
