By E. Marcel Pourtout, Editor
The Kennesaw State volleyball team concluded the Kennesaw State Invitational last Saturday night dropping its match against AVCA No. 7 Purdue, 3-0 (25-23, 25-14, 25-13) at the Convocation Center.
In the first set, The Owls (4-3) held a 16-14 lead before the Boilermakers (6-0) mounted a comeback. A kill by Purdue’s Azaria Stahl gave the road team a 22-19 lead. Kennesaw State showed resolve throughout the set and a kill by Kelly Marcinek got the Owls within two at 24-22. However the Boilermakers held on for a 25-23 first set win.
Purdue began the second set with a 10-3 lead. Each Boilermakers’ point accept one came from a kill or an ace. Down 16-6 in the set, Kennesaw State went on a 7-2 run with highlights including a kill by Fanise Cannon and block by Marcinek. However, Purdue scored seven of the last eight points of the set to take it 25-14.
The Boilermakers closed out the match with a 25-13 win in the third set.
Freshman Anaiah Boyer had a team-high eight kills while Katarina Morton earned a team-high 13 digs in the loss. Kristi Piedimonte had 21 assists for the Owls while Cannon was named to the All-Tournament team for her efforts.
For Purdue, Sam Espenesa had a game-high 12 kills while Faye Adelaja notched 10. Ashley Evans and Kate Workman had 10 digs each while Val Nichol piloted the offensive attack with 43 assists.
Kennesaw State opened the tournament with a five-set defeat to Elon last Friday night. The Owls responded with a five-set win over UNC Asheville on Saturday morning before the Purdue matchup.
“We played in three really competitive matches with a ton of fan support,” coach Keith Schunzel said. “You never want to go 1-2 in your home tournament, but we lost a heartbreaker last night, came back this morning and didn’t play great but came out with a win. Then we came out and played a competitive match against a Top 10 team in the nation and had a solid showing.”
The Owls return to action this Friday against Tennessee.
The Sports Inquirer 
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