Saturday, Nov. 10
7 p.m. – Kennesaw State (22-6, 13-2) at Jacksonville (5-22, 3-11)
Location: Jacksonville, Fla. | Swisher Gymnasium

Links – Live Stats | Match Notes

Match Preview
The Kennesaw State volleyball team closes out the regular season on the road at Jacksonville Saturday. With the No. 2 overall seed already locked up, the Owls will look to close the season out strong and potentially earn a share of the ASUN regular season title. 

If KSU wins Saturday and FGCU loses against Liberty, the Owls and Eagles will share the regular season crown, but FGCU will remain the No. 1 seed based on tiebreakers.

On the flipside, Jacksonville is fighting for the final spot in the postseason tournament, currently one match behind North Florida with two matches to play. JU would need to win both of their final matches and hope UNF loses its final two to qualify.

The Dolphins are one of the top serving teams in the league, ranked second with 148 aces on the year. Junior Mallory Mattingly leads the charge from the service line with 36 aces to rank third in the conference.

Mattingly also paces the Dolphins with 366 total kills, ranking fourth in the league, and 198 digs.

The Owls got the best of Jacksonville in their first meeting this season, sweeping the Dolphins in dominant fashion, 25-13, 25-12, 25-15.
 
Last Time Out
The Owls wrapped up the No. 2 seed after a 3-1 victory over Lipscomb in their final home match of the regular season. Lauren Chastang (13 kills, 13 digs) and Liesl Engelbrecht (12 kills, 10 blocks) paced KSU with double-doubles as Engelbrecht became the second Owl in history to record a double-double with blocks and kills.

KSU and the Bisons battled it out in a match that saw 35 ties and 12 lead changes. After a back-and-forth opening set, the Owls gained the edge late, 23-20, following a 4-1 run. A kill from Engelbrecht and an ace from freshman Jessie Cohen secured the first set victory, 25-22.

KSU opened the second set with a 6-1 run to take a 7-3 lead, but Lipscomb responded with a 6-0 run to pull in front 9-7. The two squads then proceeded to trade points deep into the set tied 19-19, until a kill from Quin Sutphin sparked a 6-1 run to clinch the set, 25-20.

After another back-and-forth start, Lipscomb pulled ahead in the third set with a 5-1 run to lead 16-10. KSU eventually evened the set at 20-20 following an 8-1 run. Lipscomb regained the lead with a 3-0 run as a kill from Carlyle Nusbaum put the set away for the Bisons, 25-22.

Lipscomb kept its momentum going in the fourth, opening the set with a 7-3 lead. The Bisons pushed their lead to 12-7 before KSU responded with a 6-1 run to tie the set 13-13. Both teams went point-for-point until the Owls gained the edge, 20-17, following a 4-0 run. Lipscomb eventually tied the set at 23 with back-to-back aces, but kills from Sutphin and Lauren Chastang clinched the victory for KSU, 25-23.                  
 
20-20 Vision
With KSU's most recent win, the Owls have earned a program-record 22 wins this season. KSU set the record last year after finishing the season 21-5 overall. This is the first time in program history KSU has had back-to-back 20 win seasons.

Since 2015, KSU has recorded at least 18 wins each season, going 80-30 overall in that span.

The Owls 43 wins over the last two years is nearly as many wins as the first four years of the volleyball program combined. 
 
The Block Is Hot
As a team, the Owls have been huge at the net this season recording 259 total blocks to break the all-time single-season record. That mark is good enough for second in the conference and 24th in the NCAA. Six players have recorded 20 or more blocks on the year, four with 50 or more. 

Sophomore Quin Sutphin and senior Liesl Engelbrecht have been the driving force behind the Owls production, combining for half of KSU's total blocks on the year (130). Sutphin (114) and Engelbrecht (107) rank second and fourth, respectively, in the ASUN for total blocks. 

Sutphin and Engelbrecht are the second and third players, respectively, in history to hit the century mark for blocks in a single-season. This is the first time in program history the Owls have had two players with over 100 blocks in a single-season.

Sutphin broke the single-season record for blocks in KSU's last match, recording six blocks against Lipscomb to bring her season total to 114. Engelbrecht needs only six more blocks to tie the previous record of 113. 

This season, Sutphin and Engelbrecht became the first and second Owls in history to record a double-double with blocks and kills. Both instances came against Lipscomb with Sutphin recording 11 kills and 12 blocks in Nashville and Engelbrecht logging 12 kills and 10 blocks in the Owls most recent match against the Bisons.

Sydni Shelton (72), Lauren Chastang (55) and Lexi Broadwater (45) have all stepped their games up this year, recording the highest season block totals in their career. Broadwater recently set a new career-high with five blocks against Lipscomb.

Killing The Game
After being resigned to the back row against NJIT, Sophomore Lauren Chastang has returned with a vengeance, recording double-digit kills in four of the last five matches with three double-doubles in that span.

Chastang recorded her 14th double-double of the season in KSU's recent match against Lipscomb with 13 kills and 13 digs, marking her second straight double-double. Chastang has recorded 10 or more kills in 24 of KSU's 28 matches this year.

With her four digs against NJIT earlier this year, Chastang became the fifth player in program history to record over 300 kills and 200 digs in a single season. She currently ranks third in the ASUN with 374 total kills and is one of three players in the league with over 300 kills and 250 digs.

Chastang currently ranks fifth on the all-time single-season kills list, needing only two more to move into fourth and 11 to rank third.
 
A Grand Celebration
Senior Sydni Shelton moved one step closer to history Tuesday night with six kills against Lipscomb. Shelton has recorded 989 kills over her four-year career as an Owl. She needs 11 kills over the next two guaranteed matches to become just the fourth Owl in history to record over 1,000 kills in their career. 

She currently ranks second on the team and ninth in the ASUN with 258 kills this season. At the moment, Shelton is averaging 2.41 kills per set and 9.2 kills per match.

Do You Need Assistance?
Junior Lexi Broadwater set a career-high with 58 assists in KSU's first match at Lipscomb and she hasn't slowed down since, recording 50 or more assists in the last two matches.

The Fayetteville, Ga., native ranks third in the NCAA with 1,206 total assists this season. Only three players in the country have recorded over 1,200 assists. No other player in the ASUN has logged over 1,000 assists, with two players in the league recording over 900 on the year.

Broadwater is just the fifth Owl in history to reach the century mark in a single-season. With 51 assists in KSU's most recent match, she set a new single-season record for assists with 1,206 so far this year. 

Her current clip of 11.27 assists per set ranks 16th in the NCAA. That mark would also make her the first Owl in history with a single-season assists per set average above 11. With 1,294 career assists, Broadwater already ranks fourth on the all-time career assists record list.
 
She Can Dig It
Sophomore Karlee Groover has been dynamite for the Owls in her first season as the team's libero. Groover has logged 15 or more digs in the last three matches, including a career-high 26 digs in KSU's match against FGCU. She has recorded at least 10 digs in all but four matches with 20 or more in seven matches.

Her 457 digs on the year ranks fourth in the ASUN. She is one of only four players in the league with over 400 digs.

With 16 digs in the Owls recent match against Lipscomb, Groover surpassed Selina O'Leary's 2009 mark for fifth on the all-time single-season digs list. 

The Newnan, Ga., native is currently digging at a clip of 4.27 digs per set. That mark ranks fifth in the ASUN and would place her sixth all-time in a single-season.

Ace In The Hole
With her sole ace against FGCU, Lexi Broadwater tied the KSU single-season record of 37 set by Kristi Piedimonte in 2014. She ranks second in the ASUN and 48th in the NCAA for total aces.

As a team, KSU leads the conference and ranks 21st in the nation with 158 total aces on the year. The Owls have logged five or more aces in 16 matches with 10 or more in four matches. 

KSU's 158 aces on the year is a single-season record. Seven Owls have recorded 10 or more aces on the year.

What's All The HullaBallou?
Freshman Dani Ballou has been a welcome addition to the KSU rotation this season. The Clearwater, Fla., native has been named the ASUN Freshman of the Week twice this year. 

This is the first time an Owl has received multiple freshman of the week awards since Sydni Shelton in 2015. Shelton was named freshman of the week four times during the season, garnering All-ASUN Second Team honors. 

Ballou has recorded 169 kills on the year, the third most all-time by a freshman. She has recorded at least eight kills in seven of the last eight matches, tying her career-high with 13 against Lipscomb.

Tournament Grounds
Kennesaw State will play hosts to this year's 2018 ASUN Conference Tournament. 

The conference tournament is slated to begin Thursday, Nov. 15 with the championship match taking place Saturday, Nov. 17. Single-match tickets are $8 each with a tournament pass costing only $20.

Tickets can be purchased through KSUOwls.com.

Next Up
Following Friday's match, the Owls will set their sights on the ASUN Conference Tournament. Having locked up a first-round bye, KSU will take on the winner of the No. 3 seed and No. 6 seed Friday (Nov. 16) at 7:30 p.m.

Stat Leaders
Kills: 374, Lauren Chastang
Assists: 1,206, Lexi Broadwater
Digs: 457, Karlee Groover
Blocks: 114, Quin Sutphin
Aces: 37, Lexi Broadwater
Attack Percentage: .291, Sydni Shelton
 
 

Related Videos

Now Playing:

• Play Video