Offensively junior Ashley Mell posted a team-best 16 kills, while sophomore Halie Ecker also had double-digit kills with 10 and junior Lauren Sears was third on the team with eight. Setter Kelsea Seymour recorded 38 assists, nine digs, two kills and three blocks. Junior libero Lisa Knecht registered 16 digs. SJ Bowden led the Eagles in blocks with five and Sears was second on the team with four.
The Golden Eagles totaled 45 kills, 43 assists, three aces, 52 digs and 10.0 total team blocks. The Owls finished the match with a .188 attack percentage, 47 kills, 43 assists, 56 digs and 7.0 team blocks.
Mell was named the Invitational MVP, while both Seymour and Sears were named to the All-Tournament Team.
Kennesaw opened the match with a kill by Sabrita Gulley 1-0 lead, but Southern Miss came right back to tie it at 1-1 on an Ecker kill. USM took the lead on an Owl attack error before Mell added to the lead with back-to-back kills for a 4-1 advantage. KSU's Alyssa Lang connected on a kill to get within three, but Bowden answered with a kill for the Eagles to keep a three-point advantage. Following KSU miscue, Mell kill and a dual block by Mell and Sears put USM up, 8-2, forcing the Owls to take a timeout. Southern Miss ran its lead to 11-2, before Kennesaw reeled off four straight points behind three kills by Lang. Southern Miss ended the streak with a kill by Mell for a 12-6 lead. The Owls got back on track using a 9-4 run to cut the lead to one, 16-15. The squads began trading points as the Eagles were able to maintain a three-point advantage until KSU called its second timeout trailing 22-19. From there, Gulley took over, producing three kills and a block to tie the match at 23-23. Following a USM timeout, Ecker put down a kill for a 24-23 lead, but Gulley answered immediately to tie the set again. After trading points, Bowden and Seymour got a block and Mell ended the set with a kill for a 27-25 win.
The Owls ran out to a 4-1 lead early as Southern Miss had trouble running its offense. Mell finally put down a kill and KSU had an attack error to pull the Eagles within on, 4-3. Southern Miss was able to tie the set at 5-5, but the Owls got back-to-back points for a 7-5 advantage. The Eagles then ran off four straight points to take the lead, 10-7. Southern Miss did not trail again as the Eagles outscored Kennesaw State, 11-9, for a 21-16 lead. USM held on for a 25-19 victory.
The third set started with seven ties, until KSU got three straight kills for an 11-8 lead. Southern Miss got within one, 12-11, following an Amelia Hendrickson kill and two Owls errors, but KSU forced the Eagles to take a time out following a kill and Mell attack error, giving the Owls a 14-11 lead. The USM timeout proved to be effective as KSU had a service error. Both teams traded points, midway through the set. With the Owls leading, 19-16, Southern Miss got a big block from Bowden and Henderickson, a kill from Seymour and two errors by the Owls to tie the set at 20-20. After a Kennesaw timeout, USM took the lead on a block by Bowden and Seymour, but it was short lived as KSU put down a kill to tie the set. Mell answered with a kill and a block with Sears to give USM a 23-21 lead. The Owls got back-to-back kills from Lang and forced the Eagles to take their final timeout with the score tied at 23-23. KSU regained the lead on an Eagle error, but Mell answered with a kill. Lang gave the Owls a 25-24 lead before Sears knotted the score at 25-25 on a kill. Southern Miss finished the set with an Owl attack error and an ace by Mell for the 27-25 win.
Lang led Kennesaw with a match-high 19 kills to go with 10 digs, while Gulley added 12 kills and 12 digs for the visitors.
Southern Miss travels to Middle Tennessee for the MT Blue Raider Bash where they will play Georgia Southern in the opening match on Sept. 3. The Golden Eagles will play host Middle Tennessee and Miami (Fla.) on Sept. 4 and closed out the tournament with a match against Auburn, Sept. 5.
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