MATCH STATS
- Kennesaw State defeats FGCU, 3-1 (12-25, 30-28, 29-27, 25-18)
- Kennesaw State improves to 19-4; FGCU drops to 20-9
- Fort Myers, Florida
- Attendance: 506
- Box Score
FORT MEYERS, Fla. – The Kennesaw State Owls won a four set thriller on Saturday night, defeating the FGCU Eagles in a rollercoaster of a match in Alico Arena. The Owls are the outright ASUN conference champions and have a bid to the NCAA tournament.
Kennesaw hit .204 on the night, with a .345 hitting percentage in the fourth set. They held FGCU to a .197 clip. The Owls out-blocked the Eagles 14-6.
Kennesaw State setter Kristi Piedimonte totaled 46 assists and 9 digs, to go with two kills and one block assist. On the other side of the net, Maggie Rick notched 50 assists and 6 digs, along with three kills and two block assists.
Three Owls posted double-figure kills in Liesl Engelbrecht, Sydni Shelton, and Lauren Chastang. Engelbrecht had 12 kills and two digs on a .417 clip. Shelton also tabbed 12 kills on a .226 hitting percentage, and Chastang put 11 away, hitting .207.
FGCU’s offense was led by Amanda Carroll, who had 26 kills on a .293 hitting percentage. Snowy Burnam posted 16 kills, hitting .211, to go along with 14 digs for a double-double.
Both teams will play in the ASUN Championships next weekend.
PRESS RELEASES
Courtesy of Kennesaw State Athletics
THE STORYLINE:
· Kennesaw State clinched its first outright ASUN Regular Season Championship in program history by beating FGCU in four sets down in Fort Myers, Florida.
The Owls finish the regular season 19-4 overall and 13-1 in the ASUN. The 19 wins ties a program record for wins in a season.
KSU will be the one seed in the ASUN tournament next week at Lipscomb. The first round begins on Thursday, but the Owls will wait to find out who their opponent will be on Friday, November 17.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
FGCU jumped on the Owls early in the first set and used that early advantage to gain a 1-0 lead in the match.
Needing to bounce back in the second, Kennesaw State went on a 7-2 run to go up 15-10. With the Owls seemingly in control, FGCU won seven of eight points to pull even in the set.
FGCU ended up having a set point in the second set to take a 2-0 lead in the match, but the Owls held it off pushing the set into extra points. After that, KSU had three set points before finally evening the match with two blocks in a row at 30-28.
The third set was another long one, but was a story of two comebacks. At first, FGCU controlled the set early on. Trailing 20-16, the Owls won four straight to tie it at 20 and then scored four more to take a 24-22 lead.
Gulf Coast spoiled both of those set points for the Owls and then they held off three more before Kennesaw State finally took the set 29-27.
In the fourth set, Kennesaw State went on an 8-1 run going up 18-14. With a championship in their grasp, KSU kept the pressure on and finished off the Eagles in four sets 25-18 to secure their first outright ASUN Championship in the regular season.
SCHUNZEL QUOTE:
“It’s simply pure pride and happiness to see our special group of women finish a regular season title off in that fashion. What a gutsy, gritty game that was. Obviously, we still have work to do, in what’s going to be an absolute battle of a conference tournament, but tonight we’re going to enjoy this achievement.
There is a lot more to this team than just our four coaches and 16 players, 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. This title is just as much yours. Thank you all.”
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
· Kennesaw State wins its second straight ASUN Championship in the regular season and first outright championship in the regular season in program history.
· Next weekend, KSU will compete in the ASUN Tournament as the one seed. The tournament begins on Thursday, November 16 but the Owls will have a bye in the first round.
· The Owls had their 19th win of the season against FGCU matching the most wins in program history in a season.
· This was the first victory for the Owls at Florida Gulf Coast since the 2010 season.
UP NEXT
Kennesaw State will head to the ASUN Tournament as the top seed in Nashville, Tennessee at Lipscomb next weekend. The Owls first match in the tournament will be on Friday and will find out who they will play on Thursday night.
To keep up with the latest Kennesaw State volleyball news follow the team on Twitter @KSUOwlNation and @KSUOwlsVB or by liking Kennesaw State University on Facebook.
Courtesy of FGCU Athletics
FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU volleyball team (20-9, 10-4 ASUN) concluded its regular season with a 12-25, 30-28, 29-27, 25-18 loss to Kennesaw State (19-4, 13-1 ASUN) in Alico Arena on Saturday.
“I think the big difference was Kennesaw’s defense each set just continued to improve,” FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. “The blocking started to figure out just what the hitters wanted to do. Their floor defense was outstanding, and we didn’t match them. They really impacted what we could do offensively with the exception of Amanda, and we couldn’t find the answers.”
With the win, Kennesaw State clinched an outright ASUN regular season championship. They will be the top seed at the ASUN Championship, while FGCU will enter as the third seed. The Eagles will face USC Upstate at 8:30 p.m. on Nov. 16 in Nashville, Tenn. in a quarterfinal matchup.
Against Kennesaw State, Amanda Carroll (26) and Snowy Burnam (16) led the team in kills, while Maggie Rick had 50 assists. Karissa Rhoades (19) and Burnam (14) combined for 33 digs.
Carroll (Albuquerque, N.M./Sandia HS) recorded her kills while hitting .293 and adding five digs, one solo block and one block assist. Through three sets, she had as many kills as Kennesaw State’s top three kill producers combined.
“Those are pretty amazing numbers for Amanda,” Botsford said. “She played in four sets but we didn’t let her go through the front row, so what she did as an attacker she did in three sets. I don’t know if I’ve seen that before, certainly not in my time here – pretty impressive by her.”
Burnam (Palm City, Fla./Jensen Beach HS), the reigning ASUN Freshman of the Week, had her third double-double over the past six matches and finished one kill shy of matching her season-high. Offensively, Daniele Serrano (Sanford, Fla./Seminole HS) and Kaitlan Krivdo (Hope Mills, N.C./Grays Creek HS) each added six kills while hitting .375 and .313, respectively.
Rick (Alpharetta, Ga./Blessed Trinity Catholic HS) recorded at least 50 assists for the fourth time this year and the second time over the past three matches. Rhoades (Valrico, Fla./Bloomingdale Senior HS)added three assists while also recording a match-high with 19 digs. In addition to her and Burnam defensively, Courtney Stephens (Winter Park, Fla./Winter Park HS) had eight digs, and Rick chipped in six.
At the net, Krivdo, Carroll and Serrano each had a solo block, while Rick and Krivdo led the team with two block assists apiece.
NEXT UP
The ASUN Championship will take place in Nashville, Tenn., hosted by Lipscomb University at Allen Arena. Kennesaw State will face the winner of Lipscomb and North Florida in the first semifinal, while Jacksonville will face the winner of FGCU and USC Upstate in the second semifinal. The championship takes place on Nov. 18.
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