STATESBORO, Ga. – Kennesaw State closed out its non-conference schedule with a hard-fought five-set loss to North Florida, 3-2 (26-28, 25-22, 20-25, 25-19, 15-5), Saturday afternoon in the Eagle Invitational on the Georgia Southern campus.
OWL OF THE GAME:
Haley Patterson led the Owls with 21 kills for her third 20-plus kill match of the season. The senior added seven digs and three blocks while finishing with a team-high 23.5 points.
STAT OF THE GAME:
North Florida hit .714 in the deciding set, recording 10 kills without an attack error on 14 attempts.
THE RUNDOWN
The opening set featured 15 ties and eight lead changes, with neither team able to create separation. KSU fought off one set point before consecutive kills from Patterson and Ashley Theiss gave the Owls a 28-26 victory.
North Florida responded by taking the second set, 25-22, but Kennesaw State regained control in the third. With the score tied at 19, the Owls used a 6-1 closing run that included two kills from Olivia Burrage to claim the set, 25-20, and move ahead 2-1 in the match.
The Ospreys opened a large advantage in the fourth before KSU attempted a late rally, cutting the margin to five behind kills from Ashlyn Anderson and Patterson. North Florida stopped the comeback to take the set, 25-19, and force a deciding frame.
UNF scored the first three points of the fifth set and later used a 4-0 run to build an 8-2 advantage. The Ospreys maintained control the rest of the way, hitting .714 in the frame to earn the 15-5 victory.
QUOTABLE – HEAD COACH KEITH SCHUNZEL
"We're proud of our team for fighting today the way we did in a really competitive match against a North Florida team that played excellent. I'm disappointed that as the match went on, I thought our mental discipline and our execution faltered. In the fifth set, we played fairly poorly, North Florida played very well, and we'll have to figure that out.
"But overall, we grew this weekend. We would have loved to win one or two more matches, and obviously that didn't happen, but we are better now than we were a month ago. I want our team to keep growing and keep learning. Now, with conference starting, everybody is 0-0. We'll reset and get ready to compete in Conference USA."
NOTES
- Patterson's 21 kills marked her third 20-plus kill performance of the season.
- Alexis Sowers collected a team-high 21 digs for her fourth match with at least 20 digs this season.
- Burrage recorded 14 kills on .345 hitting and added three blocks, raising her KSU career-record total to 373.
- Anderson finished with 10 kills and only one attack error on 28 swings for a .321 hitting percentage.
- Theiss posted her first double-double of the season with 10 kills and 14 digs.
- Kourtney Brown handed out a team-high 34 assists, while Kaeley Walz added 20 assists.
- KSU held an 8-6 advantage in total blocks.
- The loss moved the Owls to 6-6 and concluded their non-conference schedule.
NEXT TIME OUT
Kennesaw State opens Conference USA play at home Friday, Sept. 26 against Sam Houston. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. inside VyStar Arena. The Owls and Bearkats will conclude the two-match series Saturday, Sept. 27 at 2 p.m.
