NOTES | TOURNAMENT CENTRAL | ESPN3 (For Purdue) | LIVE STATS | PROMOTIONS CALENDAR

TALKING POINTS
» The Owls will host the 2014 Kennesaw State Invitational this weekend. The home opener will be against the Elon Phoenix on Friday, September 5 at 7:30 p.m. On Saturday, the team will play UNC Asheville at noon and finish the tournament off with AVCA No. 7 Purdue at 7:30 p.m.
 
» The Purdue and Kennesaw State coaching ties run very deep. KSU head coach Keith Schunzel began his coaching career at Purdue University as a volunteer coach in March of 2005, helping lead the Boilermakers to a trip to the NCAA Sweet 16 and a 25-9 record. Along with Schunzel having ties, assistant coach Peter Chang started coaching volleyball because Purdue head coach Dave Shondell asked him to be a coach at Munciana Volleyball Club.
 
THE COMPETITION
Elon                                                
The Elon Phoenix (1-2) return 12 letterwinners, including five starters from the 2013 team which went 16-17 and advanced to the SoCon tournament for the fourth straight season. Elon is coached by Mary Tendler, who is in her 12th year with the team, which will play its first season as a member of the Colonial Athletic Association in 2014.
 
UNC Asheville                               
The UNC-Asheville Bulldogs (0-3) finished fifth in Big South play in 2013.The Bulldogs return six letterwinners, including four starters, while adding seven newcomers to the mix. UNC-Asheville is coached by Frederico Santos, who is in his fourth year with the team.
 
Purdue                                            
The No. 7 Boilermakers (3-0) boast their highest ever ranking after moving up a spot from No. 8 this week after a 3-0 start. Purdue returns eight players, including four starters, from that team and adds one redshirt freshman and seven true freshmen. Head coach Dave Shondell is in his 12th season with the team.
 
» NEWS AND NOTES
Promotions                                       
» Saturday night against No. 7 Purdue it is Student Appreciation Night. All students will receive free popcorn with a valid KSU ID and the first 250 fans will get a free silicone cell phone wallet.
 
Last Time Out                                    
» KSU beat UT-Chattanooga 3-0 (25-14, 25-21, 25-23) in a midweek match.
 
Coach Schunzel's Quote After UT-Chattanooga
» "I'm once again incredibly proud of how hard we played. For the fourth straight match, the opposing coach commented to me about how hard our team plays and that's a cool thing to hear as a head coach. I was really happy with our middle play tonight. Both Megan McGuinness and Chade Martin put up good numbers attacking and blocking and hit over .500 on the night. Winning on the road, whether in conference our out of conference, is always very hard to do, and I'm excited because our team this year understands the mental preparation and focus that is necessary to give ourselves a chance to do that. We're obviously very excited to come home and play in our own gym. This team loves putting on the Kennesaw State jersey, and it'll be great to do that at home in front of our fans."
 
KSU as a Team                                   
» The Owls were strong defensively during the first weekend at the Belmont Invitational. The team held their three opponents to a combined .169 hitting percentage. The lowest opponent hitting percentage was Evansville, who finished the game hitting .064. The team continued their strong defensive play against UT-Chattanooga holding them to a .080 hitting percentage.
» Against Belmont, KSU had 86 digs in the match, which is more digs than the team had in any match in 2013. The most digs the team had during the 2013 season was 83 twice.
» The team won its second road match in as many tries to start the 2014 season, which matches the amount of road wins the 2013 team had.
 
KSU Individually                               
» Kelly Marcinek, Katarina Morton and Megan McGuinness were named to the Belmont Invitational All-Tournament team. Marcinek led the team with 33 kills and 38 points during the weekend. Morton led the team with 50 digs and McGuinness hit .265 with nine kills and led the team with nine blocks.
» Marcinek started out 2014 with the fifth double double of her career against Belmont. She set a career-high with 20 digs and added 13 kills. Against Evansville, she finished with 19 kills while hitting .282. 
» Morton started all three games at the Belmont Invitational at libero and led the team in digs against Belmont with 22 and against Evansville with 21.
» After being named to the All-Tournament Team at the Belmont Invitational, McGuinness followed it up with one of the best performances of her career. She finished with a career high nine kills while hitting .727 and had three blocks on the night.
» Fanise Cannon had a good opening weekend with a double double against Evansville with 12 kills and 13 digs. Cannon is second on the team in kills (31) and digs (40).
» Kristi Piedimonte received her third start in a row against UT-Chattanooga. She finished with 32 assists to go along with three kills, four digs and two blocks in the three set match.
 
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.
  
 
 

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