Liberty Drops Hard-Fought 4-Set Match to Kennesaw State

Postmatch Press Conference

Liberty hosted ASUN North Division leader Kennesaw State on Friday at Liberty Arena, with the visiting Owls posting a four-set (25-14, 23-25, 25-21, 25-22) win over the Lady Flames.  

The Owls improve to 5-0 on the season, with all of their matches coming in ASUN play. The Lady Flames fall to 2-4 in 2021, including 2-3 in ASUN play.

Notable Numbers
• Kennesaw State hit .229 for the match, compared to .217 for the Lady Flames. Liberty posted a season-high 16 blocks, while the Owls made seven rejections. KSU led 7-1 in service aces and 54-52 in digs.  

• KSU's Lauren Chastang led all players with 17 kills and added 11 digs and three aces, while Claire Parsons (.500) and Emma Schurfranz scored 12 kills each. Jessie Cohen dished out a match-high 42 assists, while Karlee Groover collected a match-high 14 digs.   

• Julia Mangum scored a career-high 14 kills at a .314 pace to lead the Lady Flames, while Kainah Williams sent down a season high 11 kills (.471) and added seven blocks. Rajini Fitzmaurice contributed nine kills and 10 digs, while Amaya Williams (40 assists, 10 digs, career-high five blocks) posted her second double-double in a row. Lydia Burts totaled career highs in kills (seven) and blocks (eight), while Lilly Kruse collected 10 digs.  

Match Summary
SET 1
• KSU maintained a sizeable lead throughout the first set, outhitting Liberty .323 to -.042 on the way to a 25-14 victory.

SET 2
• Liberty appeared to be in position to tie the match up at one-all, leading 23-21 in the second set after a Watts kill. However, that was the Lady Flames' last point scored in the set, as Chastang's set-clinching kill capped a 4-0 run to the finish.  

• The Lady Flames outhit the Owls .273-.250 in set two.

SET 3
• Liberty put the clamps on the Owls' attack in set three, holding them to a .095 attack percentage while posting 4.5 team blocks. The Lady Flames closed the deal, scoring the 25-21 victory to extend the match.

Set 4
• Despite an astonishing 7.5 team blocks for the Lady Flames in the fourth set, KSU was still able to hit .286. The Lady Flames played their cleanest set of the match, hitting .333 as a team.

• The Owls led 24-19 following a Schurfranz kill. However, the Lady Flames fought off three match points, getting a pair of blocks during that stretch. Chastang then ended it at 25-22 with a kill.  

Quick Hits
• Kennesaw State is now 7-0 all-time against Liberty in volleyball.

• Tonight's 16 blocks were the most by the Lady Flames since posting 17 blocks against North Florida on Nov. 21, 2019 in the ASUN Volleyball Championship quarterfinal.

• Mangum's career-high 14 kills were the most by a Lady Flame in a single match so far this season. 

• Burts' career-high eight blocks were the most by a Lady Flames since Nov. 21, 2019, when Kailey Macy posted 10 blocks.

• Kainah Williams posted her first double-digit kill match since scoring 13 kills against Maryland Eastern Shore on Oct. 23, 2018.  

• Amaya Williams posted her 10^th career 40-assist match, and first this season.

Up Next
Liberty and Kennesaw State will wrap up the weekend tomorrow at 4 p.m. at Liberty Arena.