KENNESAW, Ga. (Sept. 26, 2026) – Kennesaw State volleyball dropped its second consecutive Conference USA match Saturday afternoon, falling 3-1 (17-25, 25-27, 29-27, 20-25) to Sam Houston at VyStar Arena.
The Owls fell to 6-8 overall and 0-2 in conference play, while the Bearkats improved to 11-4 and 2-0 in CUSA action.
STAT OF THE GAME: Sam Houston held a 19-6 advantage in total blocks, limiting the Owls to a .130 hitting percentage for the match.
THE RUNDOWN:
Sam Houston controlled the opening set, using an early 10-4 advantage to establish momentum. The Bearkats eventually stretched the margin to 21-10 before closing out the frame, 25-17.
Kennesaw State responded with a stronger start in the second, jumping ahead 5-1 and maintaining its advantage for much of the set. The Owls led 20-15 before Sam Houston rallied to take a 23-21 advantage. KSU fought back to even the score at 23-23, 24-24 and 25-25, but the Bearkats claimed the final two points for a 27-25 victory.
The third set featured another tight battle, with KSU overcoming a 15-11 deficit behind a five-point run to move ahead 16-15. Neither team could pull away down the stretch, and Sam Houston eventually earned set point at 24-23. The Owls fought off multiple opportunities to extend the match before an Ashley Theiss kill gave KSU a 28-27 lead. A Bearkat attack error followed, giving the Owls a 29-27 victory.
In the fourth, Kennesaw State overcame an early 9-4 deficit to pull even at 10-10 before eventually building an 18-16 advantage. Sam Houston battled back, and the teams were tied at 20-20 before the Bearkats scored the final five points to secure the 25-20 victory and complete the four-set win.
QUOTABLE – HEAD COACH KEITH SCHUNZEL:
"Obviously a tremendously disappointing weekend for us. The lack of belief and overall confidence within our team right now is something that our staff and players will need to figure out how to find.
"We had a number of players come in today and play hard and do good stuff, but overall our collective fight and will to win was pretty clearly not where it needs to be to give us a shot to win conference matches.
"We can't continue to lean on the 'we're young and in new roles' thing anymore. It's early in conference play, but we're already in gut check time, so we'll find out a lot about our group in the coming days and weeks with how we respond to this adversity."
NOTES:
- Olivia Burrage led the Owls with 17 kills on a .438 hitting percentage, committing just three errors on 32 attempts. She also added a team-high five blocks.
- Burrage's five blocks increased her KSU career-record total to 378.
- Ashlyn Anderson finished with 10 kills, marking her second consecutive double-digit kill performance against Sam Houston.
- Theiss contributed nine kills, nine digs and one service ace.
- Alexis Sowers paced the Owls defensively with a team-high 17 digs.
- Kourtney Brown and Kaeley Walz combined for 52 assists, finishing with 25 and 27, respectively.
NEXT TIME OUT: Kennesaw State hits the road for its first Conference USA road series of the season, traveling to Miami to face FIU on Friday, Oct. 2 and Saturday, Oct. 3. Friday's match is set for 6 p.m. ET, while Saturday's contest begins at 1 p.m. ET. Both matches will be streamed live on ESPN+.
