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LAS CRUCES, N.M. – Kennesaw State Volleyball rallied from a 1-0 deficit to claim a 3-1 win on the road at New Mexico State on Thursday night. The win clinched a top-four finish in Conference USA for the Owls, moving them to 11-4 (17-6 overall) on the conference season with one match left in the regular season, while the Aggies dropped to 14-14, 7-8 in league play.
OWL OF THE GAME:
Manu Johnsen finished with a season-high 25 kills, which is tied for the sixth most in a game in KSU history. She hit an impressive .500 (25K-4E-42TA) for the night, and also added five digs.
STAT OF THE GAME: The Owls have had great success this season from the service line, and they were not only helped by their serving tonight (six aces to seven service errors), the Aggies 12 total service errors to just two aces were a huge game-changer for KSU in the match.
OWL HIGHLIGHT OF THE GAME: Senior
Leah Freeman reached the 1,000 career dig mark in the match, and would finish the night with 1,003.
THE RUNDOWN – KSU led early in set one, until a 5-0 run from the home team carried the Aggies to a 10-point opening set win. The Owls stepped it up in sets two and three, with a 7-1 run in the second set putting the Owls up 13-9 on the way to a six-point win. In the third, KSU led 9-8 when a 10-3 run, capped by back-to-back aces from
Ava Holtz, led to a 25-17 win. The fourth set was as back and forth as it could get, with 20 total ties and 11 lead changes. The Owls would hold off set point three times, the last at 25-24 when
Kiernan Stamey recorded a kill. That led to three straight points from KSU, with an ace from
Maggie Byrd and an error by the Aggies giving KSU the set and the match.
POSTGAME QUOTES – KSU HEAD COACH KEITH SCHUNZEL
"Winning on the road is never easy, and Mike and his program have won so many games and championships in this arena. I'm definitely proud of our group for staying the course after we played a super flat and uninspired set 1. Kudos to (Kaeley) Walz for settling into the 5-1 and getting our offense rolling in sets 2-4. Manu was so creative and steady on the attack tonight and carried us even more than normal, as we had one less attacker on the court in the 5-1 offense. Butkovich had some huge swings in big moments and stepped up like we need our seniors to do.
Congrats to
Leah Freeman for passing 1,000 digs. Her growth as an elite libero has been awesome to watch, I'm so proud of her."
NOTES
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Maggie Butkovich was the other Owl in double-figures for kills with 11.
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Kaeley Walz would post 44 assists to pace the Owls.
-KSU won despite hitting .285 to .295 for NM State.
NEXT TIME OUT: The Owls finish the regular season on Friday with another 8 p.m. contest against the Aggies.
The Owls Fund
The Owls Fund is the primary fundraising arm of Kennesaw State Athletics with the goal of supporting our student-athletes, coaches and each of our 18 NCAA Division I programs. Through initiatives such as Legacy Lockers, the Dot Martin Scholarship Golf Classic, sport-specific giving opportunities, general donations and season tickets, The Owls Fund connects fans with KSU's programs and student-athletes. Members receive exclusive benefits such as hospitality seating areas and events at Kennesaw State home games, and more. Join The Owls Fund here and discover more opportunities on how you can support Kennesaw State Athletics.
