Match 1: Box Score (PDF) | Box Score (XML)
Match 2: Box Score (PDF) | Box Score (XML)
 
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Kennesaw State volleyball used a clean, balanced offensive to open up the season with back-to-back sweeps on Friday at the Courtyard by Marriot Samford Invitational.
 
The Owls (2-0) were able to down Loyola Chicago and McNeese State with only a short break between the two matches.
 
"I'm proud of our team for a nice start today," head coach Keith Schunzel said. "We put up some really solid offensive numbers, hitting over .300 each match. Lexi did a great job of spreading the ball around to our attackers and putting them in good positions to terminate. But our team also knows we have a lot of areas we want and need to improve on. This team is a long ways away from reaching our ceiling, which is a good thing."
 
Schunzel continued, "We'll get another shot tomorrow to put on our jerseys and play our butts off against a very strong, well-coached and talented Samford team."
 
Of note overall on the day was Liesl Engelbrecht's pursuit of the all-time KSU block record. With five total blocks on Friday, Engelbrecht has tied Rachel Taylor (2014-17) for most career blocks in program history at 251.
 
The Owls are back at it on Saturday to conclude the Samford Invitational, playing host Samford at 4 p.m. eastern. The match will be broadcast live on ESPN+, which is available with a subscription.
 
Match 1: Kennesaw State 3, Loyola Chicago 0
In the season-opener, Kennesaw State outlasted a pesky Loyola Chicago team with an impressive all-around performance to get the sweep.
 
The Owls opened with a strong start, taking the first set 25-18 before a back-and-forth second set. In the second, KSU faced an early deficit as the Ramblers responded looking to even up the match. But the Owls retook the lead with a 6-2 run and then three straight points to be up 20-18 late.
 
Loyola Chicago continued to battle and knotted up the set, 26-all, before the Kennesaw State defense held strong and forced two errors to win 28-26.
 
From there, the Owls grabbed some momentum and worked to a 25-22 victory for their first sweep of the season.
 
KSU owned the leaderboard, having Sydni Shelton, Lauren Chastang and Engelbrecht lead all lead with game-high 10 kills each. Lexi Broadwater continues to drive the bus, offensively, for the Owls, totaling 42 assists overall.
 
As a team, Kennesaw State swung well, hitting at a .343 clip while holding the Ramblers to just .187.
 
Match 2: Kennesaw State 3, McNeese State 0
In their second match of the day, the Owls were able to keep the fire stoked from the morning, sweeping McNeese State 3-0.
 
The name of the game for Kennesaw State was balance as Engelbrecht (8), Chastang (9) and Maddie Jones (9) all finished with more than eight kills while the team fell to a .323 attack percentage after hitting north of .400 for much of the match.
 
Four Owls individually finished hitting .400 or better – Shelton (.455), Madeline Johnson (.429), Engelbrecht (.429) and Quin Sutphin (.400).
 
Broadwater once again finished as the leading assist maker with 32 on the night while Chastang helped lead KSU to 10 aces, hitting four herself.
 
The tone was set from the early going as the Owls jumped out to a quick 12-4 lead and never looked back, going up 1-0 by a score of 25-14 – hitting .444 in the opening set.
 
KSU controlled much of set two in the same way, before McNeese State was able to climb within one point. But the Owls kept their cool as Chastang lasered back-to-back kills to give them the 25-20 win.
 
The final set was much more back-and-forth, with the score being even through 14-14. With a small lead, it was the defenses turn to step up as back-to-back blocks for the Owls put them up 20-16, which was all McNeese State could handle.
 
Jones added the exclamation point on the day, serving up an ace for match point to seal the sweep.
 
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