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KENNESAW, Ga. – The Kennesaw State volleyball team flew through NJIT, 25-10, 25-10, 25-14, Sunday afternoon to record its program record 13th-straight victory and clinch a spot in the ASUN conference tournament.
 
How it happened: The Owls (19-4, 10-0) started off hot taking a 7-3 lead in the first set, eventually building it to as high as 12-5 following a 4-0 run. Back-to-back kills from senior Sydni Shelton then sparked a 10-0 run to close out the set for KSU.
 
The Owls hit a blazing .550 in the opening set, holding NJIT (4-21, 2-8) to a -.172 hitting percentage to record the 25-10 victory.
 
The Highlanders bounced back to open the second set, taking an 8-5 lead following an error from KSU. Down three, the Owls responded with a kill from sophomore Quin Sutphin to open a 9-0 run and give KSU a 14-8 lead. KSU kept its foot on the gas, scoring 11 of the next 12 points to record a 25-10 second set win.
 
KSU committed only three errors throughout the first two sets, hitting a tremendous .478 in the second.
 
Out of the intermission, NJIT played a much closer set against the Owls as both teams traded points tied at 8-8. KSU earned some breathing room with a 4-0 run capped off by an ace from Bri Becerra to take a 12-8 advantage.
 
KSU built its lead to as high as 11 points, 23-12, following three straight blocks before a Highlander error ended the set, 25-14.
 
Notes: KSU has now earned a spot in the ASUN conference tournament for the fourth straight year … Sydni Shelton led the way for the Owls with 10 kills, her 11th match this year with double-digit kills … With her four blocks against NJIT, Quin Sutphin became the second Owl in history to record over 100 blocks in a single-season (101) … as a team, the Owls recorded a .373 hitting percentage, the third-highest hitting percentage of the year and sixth time this season they have hit over .300 … freshman Dani Ballou recorded eight kills in the match, the fourth time in the last five matches she has logged eight or more kills … junior Madeline Johnson was perfect, recording seven kills and zero errors for a .700 hitting percentage.
 
Quotes: Head Coach Keith Schunzel
On today's match…
"We played really well. That was the talk all day in the locker room when we were watching video. We are going to take care of the ball when it's on our side of the net no matter what. We put out a little different lineup on the floor today, but we were really clean on the serve, aggressive on the serve, we were really clean ball handling and then we hit almost .400 as a team. It was a really good match."
 
On Quin Sutphin's recent play…
"She has been lights out these last few weeks. Like we talked about after Friday, she is learning how to bring that mentality, that effort level, that energy every night. When she does that with how good her arm is and how athletic and talented she is, she's putting up big numbers, she's doing a heck of a job."
 
On Lauren Chastang's limited role today…
"Lauren tweaked her ankle a little bit real late Friday night, which was kind of a bummer, but it was cool today because we had to have other people fill in for her in the front row. There have been some games lately where we have been relying a lot on Lauren. Overall that's not a great thing. You want to be really balanced, you want a lot of people that can contribute from a kills and blocks standpoint, but today she came in she passed great and she played some good defense. She always brings a level of competitiveness and energy to our team that makes her really special."
 
On Sydni Shelton moving to the left side…
"Sydni hasn't played left side since her sophomore year and I think there is some things she loves about the right side and I think there are things that today she found out she loves about the left side too. You get a lot of balls over there and you get to take a lot of swings. She did a great job of keeping the ball high and being aggressive when she had it. She's a great player."  
 
Up next: KSU heads to Florida for back-to-back matches at North Florida and Stetson this Friday and Saturday. Both matches are slated for 6 p.m.