Kennesaw State volleyball defeats the North Alabama Lions in a 3-1 ending.
Kennesaw State earned a two-game winning streak on its home court after its victory against North Alabama University on Oct. 13.
With the Owls’ four-set successful performance, they almost match up to the preseason conference poll record of 3-4, and an overall poll of 10-8.
Leaders in this game were: sophomore Outside Hitter and New-record-holder Manu Johnsen‘s sensational performance of 20 kills; fifth-year Right side, Emma Shurfranzand sophomore Outside Hitter Maggie Butkovich made 10 outstanding kills each; Six blocks from Olivia Burrage; Defensive Specialist Shelby Dennis‘ impressive 20 digs; and Redshirt Freshman Kourtney Brown made an impressive new appearance on the court with 44 assists, 17 digs and four kills.
Owls successfully won set one with a score of 25-21. The Owls and the Lions became closely knitted at 16-16 until Butkovich led the Owls to its winning streak with an outstanding kill; kills from Johnsen, Brown and Claire Parsons, who accumulated nine kills throughout the game. Two powerful block assists from Johnsen and Parsons, followed up with another teamed-up block assist from Johnsen, helped the Owls gain momentum and win the set.
In the second set, however, the Lions geared up against the Owls with a score of 25-27. The Owls accumulated 10 attack and service errors that contributed to the Lions’ uprising. At the beginning of the set, there were four back-to-back service and attack errors from the Owls and two powerful kills from Outside Hitter Brenna Tietz and Outside/Right Side Hitter Lexi Pendleton. By the time the Lions and the Owls tied at 25-25, a set-point kill from Pendleton and an attack error led to the Owls’ fall.
With a strong comeback from The Owls in set three, they landed an outstanding score of 25-15. Back-to-back kills and block assists led to the Owl’s early uprising against the Lions. The set concluded with a set-point kill from Schurfranz.
The final set marked the Owl’s second-winning streak, with a concluding score of 25-20. The Lions had 12 total attack and service errors, which hindered them from being able to make a comeback to the Owls. There were multiple kills from Butkovich and Schurfranz, along with Johnsen’s phenomenal kill, making the final set point and concluding victory for the Owls.
Volleyball Head Coach Keith Schunzel discussed how their defense directly affects the offense. He said he was proud of what the team accomplished that night and wants to continue challenging the team to build confidence and momentum going forward.
“We played really well for the majority of that match, but there were parts of this match where we didn’t defend at an intense, urgent level,” Schunzel said. “Our offense starts banging, clicking and starts going, but it starts in the defensive side of the ball for us.”
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