Volleyball wore down ASUN opponent, Jacksonville Dolphins, in 3-1 victory on Friday, Oct. 21.
KSU collected their sixth straight win on the road from Swisher Gymnasium.
The Owls reign in first place in the conference at 8-1 and maintain an overall record of 15-4.
KSU hit the ground running during set one, beginning with an early advantage of a 5-0 run for an 11-7 edge. Jacksonville tied KSU twice at 11-11 and 12-12 as they did not back down to a challenge. The Owls continued to push forward increasing the edge.
The set was finalized with a kill and ace from freshman Manu Johnsen.
At the start of the second set, the Dolphins put up an intense fight as they held a 9-6 advantage and were still ahead 11-9 before the Owls were able to lock in. Dani Ballou pulled through for KSU with back-to-back kills and kickstarted an 8-3 spurt for the Owls, putting them up 17-14 against the Dolphins.
Johnsen once more sealed the deal for the set by scoring the winning point.
Set three arrived with an early lead for KSU, seemingly looking like it would result in another sweep for the Owls after upholding an 8-5 advantage against the Dolphins following an ace by Emma Schurfranz.
JU kept the competition interesting and close by maintaining a 4-0 spurt to go up 14-11 with the Owls and never looking back. JU then went up 22-17 putting pressure on KSU.
The Owls toughed it out and took control, scoring six of the next seven points to tie the set at 23-23. The Dolphins fought to remain in the contest by scoring the final two points they needed to close the match.
Set four proved to be one of the most nerve-racking yet as the teams went back and forth taking the lead. KSU took the lead before having JU haul away with a 14-13 advantage due to a 5-0 run. The Owls answered back with a 4-0 run, tying the game for the final time at 20-20.
KSU marched out with the victory after they closed out with five of the final seven points.
Ballou’s kill finished the set and match, earning another win for the Owls.
“That was a fight. It’s a very coach thing to say but winning on the road in a deep league like ours is really hard.” Head Coach, Keith Schunzel said. “In my opinion JU played about as well as they could play, so credit to their players and their staff. We really struggled to slow their offense down, but I’m so proud of our team for continuing to battle and executing in big moments when sets were on the line.”
Schunzel continued, “Lots of good attacking performances, I thought all of our back row players contributed and did some nice things. And I thought McKinley competed her tail off tonight which is exactly what you want and need from your setter and one of your leaders.”
The Owls will return home to play the Stetson Hatters on Friday, Oct. 28 at the Convocation Center at 7 PM.
