After a tough start to the campaign for first-year head coach Keith Schunzel, KSU’s volleyball team settled in at home this weekend, earning four straight wins as the host of the KSU Owls Invitational to even its record at 5-5.
The Owls defeated Tennessee Tech (3-2), Stony Brook (3-1), Coastal Carolina (3-1) and Samford (3-1) to sweep the floor and earn the invitational title.
“The kids are riding high right now. It was as well as we played all year,” Schunzel said.
Senior Sara Metroka set the stage with 155 assists during the weekend. Metroka was named to the All-Tournament team, along with senior Camille Pedraza and emerging sophomore Cierra Royster. Royster recorded 35 kills and 15 blocks, while Pedraza had 71 digs from the libero position.
“We made a real jump after playing shaky early on against Tennessee Tech and at times against Stony Brook,” Schunzel said. “Today, we really took it to a new level. That was exciting to see. Every game we did better and tonight was a whole lot of fun.”
“It feels really good, especially after the shaky start to the season,” said Metroka. “We’ve really been working on our mental game. We have the talent. We’ve been getting better every day, and we did a really good job last week.” Before opening up the Convocation Center this weekend, the Owls were struggling mightily on the road. KSU dropped three in a row last week at the Magnolia Invitational against Ole Miss, Arkansas State and Georgia Southern.
“I feel good about where we’re at,” Schunzel said. “We’re playing great and much better than we were three weeks ago. We’ll celebrate tonight and enjoy the victory, but get back to work on Monday. I think mentally we’re in a much better place. We’ve been training hard and getting better.”
With the tournament sweep, KSU is now even with a .500 record (5-5). More importantly, the Owls are 4-0 at home with two home matches coming up to open the conference schedule this weekend.
KSU will host USC Upstate in the Atlantic Sun Conference opener on Friday at 7 p.m., followed by a Saturday afternoon match against East Tennessee State at 3 p.m.
