The Owls took care of business over the weekend, defeating Stetson and FGCU on the road and clinched the top seed for the ASUN tournament
The wins also made the Owls ASUN regular season champions for the second straight year.
Against Stetson, the Owls’ defense was relentless all night, holding the Hatters to a negative hitting percentage. The 6-foot-4-inch junior Liesl Engelbrecht haunted the Stetson hitters all night and finished with five blocks.
KSU took on FGCU the following night for a chance to win the ASUN regular season crown. Coming into the match, FGCU had won three straight matches and was 10-3 at home. The Owls handed the Eagles their fourth home loss of the season.
FGCU started strong, using home-court advantage to win the first set 25-12. The Owls shook off the tough opening and snagged the next two highly-contested sets 30-28 and 29-27.
The fourth set was another back-and-forth grind, but the Owls pulled away late to secure their 10th straight victory.
“There is a lot more to this team than just our four coaches and 16 players,” said head coach Keith Schunzel after the match. “So tonight, I want to especially thank every single person who has committed to making Kennesaw State volleyball a championship program.”
“So many incredible people at KSU have had huge roles getting this to where it is, and they live and breathe for our players’ success, on and off the court,” he added. “This title is just as much yours. Thank you all.”
The Owls finished the regular season 19-4 overall and 13-1 in the ASUN Conference. They were also undefeated at home and have 13 sweeps on the year.
Their next match will be on Friday because of a first-round bye in the ASUN Tournament. Their opponent will be determined after the first round on Thursday. The tournament will be in Nashville, Tennessee, home of conference rival Lipscomb.
The Owls are the hottest team in the conference right now and have not lost since early October. KSU has shown that it can beat any team and deserves the No. 1 seed going into the ASUN tournament.
If the Owls keep showing up on both sides of the net, they will be able to dominate in the tournament like they have done all season.
KSU’s first ASUN Tournament title is just a few wins away, and with the way this team has been performing, the Owls could easily be coming home with some extra hardware.
