Friday, October 16
7 p.m. – Kennesaw State vs. NJIT
Sunday, October 18
3 p.m. – Kennesaw State vs. Lipscomb
NJIT Links: Live Stats | Video | Game Notes
Lipscomb Links: Live Stats | Game Notes
Social Media: Twitter | Facebook
 
Game Preview
Kennesaw State is right in the middle of playing five straight matches on the road taking on NJIT and Lipscomb this weekend.
 
On Friday at 7 p.m., the Owls will be the first Kennesaw State team to travel to new Atlantic Sun member NJIT in Newark, New Jersey. The Highlanders are 1-4 in the A-Sun having beat Stetson at home. The match will be streamed live.
 
This trip is a little different than the others as Saturday will be a travel day to get to Nashville. Lipscomb played a tough non-conference schedule and have started out 5-0 in the A-Sun only losing two sets so far. The Owls have never beaten Lipscomb since becoming a program in 2006.
  
Kennesaw State Team Notes
• With the win against North Florida, Kennesaw State has matched their win total last season at 10. The Owls finished the non-conference season at 8-3 and got off to the best start in school history at 6-0.
• Freshman outside hitter Sydni Shelton has been named A-Sun Player of the Week once and Freshman of the Week twice for her strong play so far this season. She is second on the team with 162 kills hitting .299.
• Shelton's hitting percentage is seventh best in the A-Sun at .299. She has had two matches this season where she has at least 17 kills with zero errors. The first one came against Jacksonville State when she had 17 kills and the second one came against USC Upstate when she had 23 kills.
• Kennesaw State currently leads the A-Sun in opponents hitting percentage at .171. They are also third in the league in hitting percentage at .229. The Owls have three players in the top ten with Shelton hitting .299, Liesl Engelbrecht hitting .279 and Cierra Royster hitting .272.
• A big part of leading the A-Sun in opponent hitting percentage is being second in the league in blocks. The Owls average 2.07 blocks per set. In conference matches, KSU is first in the A-Sun with 56.0 blocks in five matches and second in the conference averaging 2.67 blocks per set.
• Kennesaw State has two players in the top seven in blocks per set in conference matches. Engelbrecht has 21.0 blocks in 17 sets and averages 1.24 per set. Amariah Boyer has 23.0 blocks in 19 sets averaging 1.21 blocks per set. The Owls have had at least 10 blocks in three of the five conference matches.
• Against FGCU, Maddie Jones set a career high with 30 digs in the match. This is the second time this season that an Owl has had a 30 dig performance. Earlier in the year Katarina Morton tied a school record with 31 against USC Upstate. It is the third 30 dig match that an Owl has had in the last two seasons.
 
Next Up
KSU will start the second half of their conference season traveling to Spartanburg, South Carolina to take on USC Upstate on Saturday, October 24 at 3 p.m.
 
Stat Leaders (2015)
Kills: 169, Anaiah Boyer
Assists: 561, Kristi Piedimonte
Digs: 217, Katarina Morton
Blocks: 40, Liesl Engelbrecht
Aces: 14, Kristi Piedimonte
Attack Percentage: .299, Sydni Shelton
 
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 2015 home volleyball contests are free throughout the year.