Kennesaw State’s volleyball team played two home games over the weekend, sweeping Liberty 3-0 on Friday, Nov. 2, before falling to Florida Gulf Coast 3-1 on Sunday.
KSU bounced back from a loss against Stetson the previous week to beat Liberty in straight sets. Sydni Shelton led the way with 12 kills as the Owls survived three tight sets to win their 12th conference victory.
The Flames almost won the first set before two errors changed the momentum to KSU’s favor as they won the set 26-24. The Owls maintained leads in the following two sets to eventually win the match.
On Sunday, the Owls fell to the Eagles in four sets, a month after beating them in Florida.
In the first set alone, the dominance shifted between both teams as they went back and forth trying to take the lead. Down by six points, the Owls staged a comeback led by Lauren Chastang, winning the set 25-23.
KSU took an early lead in the second set with a kill from Shelton and an ace from Maddie Jones. FGCU then responded with seven straight points, maintaining the lead to win the set 25-22.
The Owls came close to winning the third set but were unable to finish as Lexi Broadwater had three kills and Dani Ballou had an ace. FGCU rode on KSU’s errors to lead themselves to win the set, 28-26.
In the last set, the Owls had multiple ties and kept the score close but ultimately could not regain momentum, falling 25-22.
“[FGCU] played great tonight,” head coach Keith Schunzel said. “Frankly the last few weeks since we played them down there, they’ve been the hottest team in the league. They are big on the block, they served and passed it great today.”
During all four sets, the Owls and Eagles reclaimed leads on multiple occasions, but KSU kept coming up short after the first set.
Chastang ended the night with 16 kills and 10 digs, making it her 13th double-double on the season.
Other notable playmakers included Quin Sutphin with 13 kills, Karlee Groover finishing the day off with 26 digs and Broadwater completing the match with more than 50 assists along with her ace.
Though Senior Day ended in defeat for the Owls, head coach Schunzel expressed his pride in the four graduating seniors.
“What these four have done for our program, I don’t think a lot of people realize, is they are the winningest class we’ve ever had,” Schunzel said. “They are incredible young women, who care about their teammates, about people, and they love being at Kennesaw State competing for this team.”
The current Atlantic Sun Conference standings after Sunday’s match have the Eagles ranked first with a 13-1 conference record while KSU is right behind at 12-2.
The Owls will finish their homestand against Lipscomb on Tuesday, Nov. 6, at 7 p.m. in the Convocation Center.
