NOTES | A-SUN TV (FRIDAY NIGHT) | LIVE STATS

TALKING POINTS
» The Owls are traveling to Jacksonville, Fla. to take on the North Florida Ospreys at 7 p.m. on Friday, October 17 and the Jacksonville Dolphins on Saturday, October 18 at 3 p.m. Friday's match will be played on A-Sun TV.
» Cierra Royster broke a school record against Florida Gulf Coast with 10 block assists. It's the second time in her career that she has had more than 10 blocks in a match. She has 21 on the season moving her into a tie for fourth all time with 162 career blocks.
» Kristi Piedimonte is an aggressive setter and has totaled 73 kills this season. Sara Metroka set the Kennesaw State single-season record in 2012 when she finished the year with 88 kills.
 
THE COMPETITION
North Florida                                
North Florida (6-14, 0-5) will be playing their A-Sun home opener on Friday night against the Owls. The Ospreys are 7-2 in A-Sun home openers.
 
UNF is 0-5 in the A-Sun, but have competed in every match so far with three of the five going into five sets including both matches last weekend against NKU and Lipscomb.
 
UNF leads the A-Sun in blocks with 152 and aces with 113.
 
Jacksonville                                  
Jacksonville (9-10, 1-4) has dropped their last four matches in A-Sun play after winning its opening contest against North Florida.
 
Sammie Strausbaugh leads the A-Sun in kills with 316 and kills per set with 4.72.
 
Julie Darty is in her first year as head coach of the Dolphins.
 
» NEWS AND NOTES
Last Time Out                                    
» KSU lost both matches last weekend to Stetson and FGCU pushing them to 2-3 in conference play and currently in fifth place. Against FGCU, three of the four sets went in to extra points.
 
Coach Schunzel on Players that Stepped Up against FGCU
» "Cierra just brings a different level of intensity. She's one of our better arms. When she can stay out of the net, she's a pretty natural blocker. Sometimes she gets pretty fired up and gets up in the net. She played great tonight. She's a difference maker and you can't replace players like C because she makes things happen. She's a point scorer whether it's on attack or block. I thought Katarina Morton played great tonight. Anaiah Boyer had another really good match with a double-double with 16 kills and 11 digs. Our setter, Kristi Piedimonte worked herself into the match. Her first two sets she wasn't very good and the third and fourth was as good as she's been all year."
 
KSU as a Team                                   
» The team tied a school record against FGCU with 16.0 blocks in the match. Three players had more than five block assists with Royster having 10, Kelly Marcinek having six and Boyer having five.
» The team this season has been good in road games with a record of 3-3 on the road this season and 1-0 in conference after beating USC Upstate in five sets.
 
KSU Individually                               
» Boyer totaled 30 kills over the weekend with 14 against Stetson and 16 against Florida Gulf Coast. She has had seven double-digit kill matches so far this season and in six of those seven she has at least 14 kills. Along with getting kills, Boyer is also strong defensively as she has had six matches with double-digit digs while being second on the team with 29.0 blocks.
» Since returning to the court two weeks ago, Cierra Royster has made a big impact. She has 34 kills and is third in the conference in hitting percentage at .338. She also has 14 blocks in conference play after setting the school record with 10 block assists against FGCU.
» Morton is third in the conference in digs per set averaging 4.28. She not only makes a difference on the defensive end, but she has 23 aces on the season giving her an average of .34 aces per set. That clip is seventh overall in the conference.
» Marcinek is fourth overall in kills per set in the A-Sun with 3.26 and 235 on the season. In conference play she is seventh averaging 3.5 kills per set and is hitting .227 with 70 kills.

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.
 
Fans are reminded that tickets to all 2014 home volleyball contests are free throughout the year.