Kennesaw State’s volleyball team traveled to Florida over the weekend to play North Florida and Stetson, defeating the Osprey 3-0 on Friday, Oct. 26, before they lost by the same score to the Hatters on Saturday.
Though the win got the Owls to 20 wins on the season, the loss the next day ended a 14-game winning streak that has defined the success of this season.
Friday’s match proved to be a straightforward victory as the Owls were able to sweep the Osprey. Lauren Chastang led the way with 12 kills while Lexi Broadwater added 43 assists over the course of the match.
Broadwater surpassed 1,000 assists on the season with her contributions against North Florida, making her the fifth Owl in history to achieve the feat.
The Owls had control, beating North Florida by eight points each in the first two sets and holding off North Florida in the third set to win 25-20. With the win, the Owls extended their streak to 14 games and their overall record to 20-4.
“I’m always proud of our players and proud to be the head coach of Kennesaw State volleyball,” head coach Keith Schunzel said. “Tonight, I had goosebumps watching our team do what we just did.”
Heading into Saturday’s match, KSU had a lot of positive momentum coming off of the sweep of North Florida. The Owls defeated the Hatters earlier this season at home, earning a sweep on Sept. 28.
Several bad serves, net violations and questionable officiating compounded with an overall better performance by Stetson all factored into the snapping of the Owls’ winning streak and perfect conference record.
In the first set, the Owls could not stop Hatters, who largely relied on a career night from Riley Nieporte. KSU was able to put up a competition, closing in by one point on several occasions, but Stetson ultimately won the first set 25-20.
The second set was back and forth with each team trading points until the Owls were able to build a four-point lead with a score of 10-6. With the score sitting at 11-7, Stetson went on a dramatic run, earning six consecutive points, which led to coach Schunzel calling a timeout in hopes to refocus the team.
It seemed to work at first, and the Owls stormed back to tie the match at 16 points each. Stetson eventually took a three-point lead at 20-17 and was able to hold off a late KSU surge to earn the set point with a final score of 25-21.
The third set saw the Owls come out with their most consistent play of the night.
Neither team held more than a one or two-point advantage until Stetson made the score 21-17. The Owls would grab a brief lead at 23-22 and it looked as if they were going to be able to extend the game for at least one more set and avoid the sweep.
At that point, the Hatters called a timeout and they were able to reel off three straight points to win the set and match.
With the loss, KSU’s record now stands at 20-5 as they remain in first place in the ASUN standings. Next, the Owls host Liberty University on Friday, Nov. 2, to begin a three-game homestand before wrapping up the regular season on Nov. 10 at Jacksonville.
