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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Kennesaw State volleyball gave 24
th-ranked Tennessee a battle, leading for the majority of the first set and playing the host Lady Vols tight in set three, but came up short in both as the Owls fell 3-0 (25-22, 25-14, 25-18) on Friday night from Food City Center. KSU fell to 6-4 to close out its non-conference slate, while the Lady Vols moved to 9-1 overall.
STAT OF THE GAME: Tennessee committed just 10 attack errors for the night and finished with a .321 hitting percentage (37K-10E-84TA). KSU meanwhile finished at .165 (33K-17E-97TA).
THE RUNDOWN – KSU did not back down at the start against the Top-25 Lady Vols, as kills from
Manu Johnsen,
Haley Patterson and
Ashlyn Anderson helped the Owls go on a 9-3 run. An ace from
Kourtney Brown gave KSU an 11-7, and the advantage grew to 15-9 after an ace from
Ava Holtz and an error from UT. KSU led 20-17 when the Lady Vols made their run, scoring five straight to go up 22-20.
Kaeley Walz recorded a kill to bring KSU within one, but the Lady Vols scored three of the next four for a 25-22 win and a 1-0 set lead. They carried that momentum into the second set, going up 10-2 early, and the Owls never threated in the set, falling behind 2-0. Set three saw the Owls step up to the battle again, as it was tied at 4-4 and they answered several UT runs to stay within distance. After a kill from Johnsen brought KSU within 10-8, the Lady Vols slowly stretched out the advantage to close out the win.
POSTGAME QUOTES
KSU HEAD COACH KEITH SCHUNZEL
"I was proud of our team for coming out with a great mentality. We talked about going for it all day and I thought we did that. Bummed at the end of the first set that we tightened up in the moment, it got a little big for us and that was unfortunate. Then we came out flat at the beginning of set two and gave them all the momentum in the match. Outside of that and the end of the first set, I thought we were playing aggressive and had a lot of really good moments. But it's about sustaining good consistent play over longer periods of time for. In matches like this tonight, your margin is really small. A couple points here and there make a big difference. In all though a good competitive match, I'm proud of our team."
NOTES
-Johnsen led all players with a game-high 14 kills, which also moves her into second place all-time on the KSU career kills list at 1,301, passing Emma Schurfranz.
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Leah Freeman had a team-high 15 digs for KSU, while Walz's 14 assists were a team high.
NEXT TIME OUT: The Owls will come back to the state of Tennessee for their Conference USA opener, as they will face Middle Tennessee in a pair of games on Sept. 26-27 in Murfreesboro.
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.
