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KENNESAW, Ga. – Kennesaw State Volleyball put together an impressive rally to make history on Friday night, as the Owls claimed the school's first-ever win in Conference USA play in any sport with a 3-2 victory (25-18, 16-25, 19-25, 29-27, 15-13) over New Mexico State in the league opener for both teams from the Convocation Center. The Owls starved off two match points in the fourth set to stay alive and start CUSA play 1-0.
OWLS OF THE GAME: Caroline Chastang set new career-highs as she notched her first career-double with 17 kills and 16 digs while also posting a team-high .433 hitting percentage.
Manu Johnsen meanwhile turned in a great all-around performance with 24 kills, 10 digs, six blocks and four aces.
THE RUNDOWN – The Owls scored the first three points of the night and took an early 9-4 edge off a kill from
Olivia Burrage. NMSU came back to tie the score twice, and were within 17-16 when a 7-0 KSU run, that featured a pair of aces from
Kourtney Brown and three kills from Johnsen, pushed the lead up to eight before the Owls closed out the set.
Set two was in the Aggies' favor from the start with a 10-4 edge as they would tie the contest at 1-1.
Set three was almost a repeat of the second, with NMSU going up 10-4. KSU would close within 22-18 late in the set before the Aggies closed out with three of the final four points for a 2-1 edge.
NMSU again led early in the fourth set, leading 3-1, 6-3 and 12-9. The momentum of both the set and the match would change though on the next play, as back-to-back blocks from the tandem of Burrage and
Kiernan Stamey, pair with a Stamey kill and an ace from Chastang put KSU up 13-12. It was a tight battle the rest of the set, as the lead changed hands eight times and the score was tied 11 times. The Aggies held both set and match point twice, at 24-23 and 26-25 but the Owls answered both times with kills from Johnsen and
Ava Garner. With the score tied at 27-27, Chastang notched a kill and an error from NMSU gave the Owls a 29-27 set win and tied the match at 2-2.
Set five was just as competitive. The score was tied seven times in the first 16 points, but the Owls would not take their first lead until 9-8 thanks to an Aggie error. NMSU tied the set on a kill, but Johnsen recorded three consecutive kills for a 12-9 advantage. The Aggies answered back with a 4-0 run to go up 13-12. The Owls dug deep one last time, and used kills from Johnsen and Chasting to force match point at 14-13, before Johnsen's final ace gave KSU the win.
POSTGAME QUOTES
KSU HEAD COACH KEITH SCHUNZEL
"That'll be one for the record books. The first ever Kennesaw State University Conference USA win will forever be from our volleyball program. That fact makes me so proud on behalf of all the people who have poured so much heart and soul into this program.
We had some definite moments of struggle and inconsistency tonight, but more importantly we had some big-time plays in critical moments late in sets 4 and 5 and figured out how to win the match.
Our team definitely grew up a little bit tonight. I'm proud of them.
Now the question is, will we be satisfied with getting one win this weekend or will we get hungrier and do everything we can to figure out how to win another one tomorrow."
NOTES
-This was the first-ever meeting between the two schools.
-Eight different Owls posted at least one kill in the match.
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Kourtney Brown led KSU with 34 assists, while
Kaeley Walz was next with 21.
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Leah Freeman finished with a game-high 25 digs.
-Johnsen's six blocks and four aces were both team-highs.
NEXT TIME OUT: The Owls will host NMSU in the second game of the season series between the two teams on Saturday at 2 p.m.
