Kennesaw State Invitational Schedule:
August 28
5 p.m. - Savannah State vs. Jacksonville State
7:30 p.m. - Kennesaw State vs. Alabama State
August 29
10 a.m. – Jacksonville State vs. Alabama State
12:30 p.m. – Kennesaw State vs. Savannah State
5 p.m. – Alabama State vs. Savannah State
7:30 p.m. – Kennesaw State vs. Jacksonville State
Location: KSU Convocation Center | Kennesaw, Ga.
Links: Live Stats | Video | Game Notes
Social Media: Twitter | Facebook
 
Game Preview
The Kennesaw State volleyball team is set to begin its 2015 season by welcoming in Alabama State, Savannah State and Jacksonville State for the Kennesaw State Invitational. There will be two matches on Friday, August 28 and four matches on Saturday, August 29.
 
Kennesaw State Team Notes
• The team has 11 players returning along with four freshman and one redshirt freshman this season.
• In the annual A-Sun Conference preseason women's volleyball coaches poll, the Owls were picked to finish sixth with a total of 28 points. Lipscomb was picked to finish first in the league with 63 points.
• Katarina Morton was voted the Preseason Defensive Player of the Year by the A-Sun Conference. She made an immediate impact on the court for the Owls as a freshman. Morton led the team with 476 digs and was second in the A-Sun averaging 4.37 digs per set. She was also second on the team with 31 service aces.
• Being young last year will really benefit KSU this year as they return the season leaders in kills (Marcinek, 323), assists (Piedimonte, 982), digs (Morton, 476) and blocks (Royster, 67).
• Despite having more experience, the team will still consist of 11 underclassmen compared to six upper classmen on the roster.
• At the end of the 2014 season, Kristi Piedimonte and Anaiah Boyer were both named to the Atlantic Sun All-Freshman team. Piedimonte had 935 assists on the season averaging 8.74 per set, which is sixth in the conference. She averaged 1.08 kills per set and finished with 108 on the season. Her team leading 35 service aces set a new single-season record at Kennesaw State and was fifth in the conference averaging .34 per set. Boyer finished second on the team in kills (270) and digs (248) and third on the team in blocks (47.0). In conference matches, Boyer led the team in kills with 162 and was second in blocks with 30.0 and digs with 141. She also led the team with eight double-doubles and seven of those came in conference matches.
• In one of the highlights of the spring as everyone was working hard to improve their games, Boyer participated in the U.S. National Team's open tryouts in Colorado Springs. It featured 232 athletes from 90 different schools.
• The four freshman will all be leaned upon this season to make a difference on the court. Liesl Engelbrecht and Karla Radillo both grew up in Georgia, while Maddie Jones and Sydni Shelton are both coming from out of state. Jones is from Grapevine, Texas and Shelton is from Danville, Alabama.
 
Next Up
After hosting the Kennesaw State Invitational, the Owls will stay in the state as they play two matches in the Georgia Challenge in Athens, Georgia. On Thursday, September 3, KSU will play against Georgia Southern at 1 p.m. On the following Friday, the Owls will play former A-Sun conference foe Mercer at 4 p.m.
 
Stat Leaders (2014)
Kills: 323, Kelly Marcinek
Sets: 982, Kristi Piedimonte
Digs: 476, Katarina Morton
Blocks: 67, Cierra Royster
Aces: 35, Kristi Piedimonte
Attack Percentage: .271, Kristi Piedimonte
 
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.