FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU Volleyball team was handed its first Atlantic Sun Conference loss of the season as Kennesaw State held the Eagles to a .020 hitting percentage as a team Saturday afternoon en route to defeating FGCU, 3-0 (25-20, 25-16, 25-18), at the KSU Convocation Center.

Freshman Jill Hopper (Muncie, Ind./Yorktown HS) led the Green and Blue (9-8, 4-1 A-Sun) with 10 kills and nine digs, to go with four service aces and two blocks. Sophomore Jessica Barnes (Winter Haven, Fla./Haines City HS) chipped in with seven kills and a pair of digs. Freshman setter Gigi Meyer (Gainesville, Fla./Buchholz HS) tallied 24 assists.

Alyssa Lang led the Owls with 13 kills and 18 digs, while Justine Young added 13 kills and hit .444 for KSU (9-12, 4-2 A-Sun). Sara Metroka ran the Kennesaw State offense and finished with 34 assists.

The Eagles led KSU early in the first set, 19-14. The Owls responded with a 3-0 run to cut their deficit to 19-17 and force FGCU into a timeout. With the Green and Blue leading 20-18, Kennesaw State got consecutive kills from Young to even the set, 20-20. KSU employed a 5-0 spurt to take the opening set, 25-20.

The Eagles scored four of the first five points in set two, but the Owls answered with an 8-0 run to take the lead for good. KSU increased their lead to as a many as nine points before taking the second set 25-16.

The Owls led from wire-to-wire in the final set and went on to win the game, 25-18, to pick up the 3-0 sweep and end FGCU’s four-match unbeaten streak in A-Sun play.

The Eagles will return to the court Wednesday, Oct. 12 when they welcome the Bulls of USF (7-10 overall, 3-2 Big East) into ‘The Nest’ for a mid-week non-conference matchup. Live stats for the contest will be available on www.FGCUAthletics.com and the match can be seen live online on A-Sun.TV.