Thursday, Aug. 30
7 p.m. – Kennesaw State vs. High Point 

Friday, Aug. 31
7 p.m. – Kennesaw State vs. Presbyterian

Location: Kennesaw, Ga. | Convocation Center

Match 1 - ESPN | Live Stats 
Match 2 – ESPN | Live Stats
Social Media: Twitter | Facebook
Match Notes

Match Preview
After opening the season a perfect 3-0 this past weekend, the Owls will step on to their home court for the first time this year Thursday, opening the 2018 ASUN/Big South Challenge against High Point University at 7 p.m.

The HPU Panthers are searching for their first win on the year after dropping their first two matches in three straight sets to both Auburn and Michigan.

High Point returns all but four players from their 2017 squad, including two-time All-Big South First Team honoree and 2018 Big South Preseason Player of the Year Molly Livingston at middle blocker. The Panthers went 24-8 last year to earn an at-large NCAA Tournament berth.

The Panthers are led this season by first year head coach Ryan Meek, who joined HPU after two seasons as the assistant coach at Creighton University.

KSU's second opponent of the week, Presbyterian, also heads into tournament play searching for its first win of the season. The Blue Hose fell to Charlotte, Elon and Virginia Tech, respectively, in their opening tournament this past weekend in Charlotte, N.C.

Presbyterian returned 11 players from last year's team, but its biggest contributor so far this year has been freshman Erin Cooke. The setter/right side hitter currently leads the team with 23 kills through the first three matches while adding 39 assists and 20 digs.  

Last Time Out
Kennesaw State swept its season-opening tournament in Birmingham, Ala., recording three-set victories over Loyola Chicago and McNeese State before rallying from two sets down to defeat tournament hosts Samford 3-2.

Three Owls, seniors Liesl Engelbrecht and Sydni Shelton along with sophomore Lauren Chastang, recorded 10 kills each in KSU's first match against Loyola Chicago, while sophomore Quin Sutphin finished with a blistering .750 attack percentage for seven kills. KSU finished the match hitting .343 as a team, downing the Ramblers 25-18, 28-26, 25-22.

In KSU's second match of the day, the Owls flew past McNeese State, 25-14, 25-20, 25-19. Four Owls finished the match hitting over .400, led by Shelton who registered .455 with six kills. 

In the tournament finale against Samford, the Owls struggled early hitting .079 and -.033 in the first and second set, respectively. Following the break, KSU flipped a switch grinding out a 25-19 victory in the third set followed by a 25-21 fourth set win to send the match into a deciding fifth set. 

With the match on the line, senior Maddie Jones put the team on her back, recording six of her 13 total kills in the final set. A laser from Chastang closed it out to give KSU the victory, 20-25, 13-25, 25-19, 25-21, 15-11. KSU recorded a .458 hitting percentage in the fifth set.

Chastang (14 kills, 12 digs) and Jones (13 kills, 10 digs) both recorded doubles. As a team, the Owls recorded 13 blocks and 10 aces against Samford.

Kennesaw State Team Notes
• The Owls start the year 3-0 for only the third time in program history and first time since 2015. KSU began the 2015 season 6-0, a program-best start.
• Liesl Engelbrecht opened the year with a bang, breaking the KSU career blocks record on her way to garnering tournament MVP honors at the Courtyard by Marriott Samford Invitational. Engelbrecht's 10 total blocks over the three-match span brought her career total to 256 blocks, surpassing Rachel Taylor (2014-17). The senior middle blocker also currently holds the KSU career record for block assists (228) and blocks per set (0.93).  
• Junior setter Lexi Broadwater jumped into the top-10 career assists list at KSU after recording 125 assists in the Owls' season-opening tournament. Broadwater now sits at eighth all-time with 213 assists, just behind Camille Pedraza (2010-13) with 242. Her 125 assists through the first three matches leads the ASUN and is already more than her first two seasons combined.
• Sophomore Lauren Chastain picked up right where she left off following her stellar 2017 campaign. Last season's ASUN all-freshmen team selection finished the opening weekend leading the team with 33 kills while adding 22 digs and six blocks. Even more notable  than her prowess at the net, is her accuracy from the service line. The outside hitter finished the three-match stretch with eight aces, ranking her 13th in the NCAA. Against McNeese State, Chastain recorded four aces, tied for the third-most in a single match in KSU history.
• Kennesaw State was picked to finish second in the 2018 ASUN Preseason Coaches' poll with a total of 70 points and three first-place first. FGCU was picked to finish first with just 75 points.
• Kennesaw State is coming off its most successful season going 21-5 overall and 13-1 in the ASUN conference marking their first win as 2017 ASUN Champions. It was its second-straight year winning the regular-season championship.
• KSU returns nine players from their championship squad including senior Liesl Engelbrecht who was named to the 2018 ASUN Preseason All-Conference team and was chosen to be one of three ASUN Preseason Players of the Year.
• The Owls also welcome six newcomers to the team, Bri Becerra, Kaylee Morris, Jessie Cohen, Jasmine Brown, Katie Crocker, and Dani Ballou.
• The Owls are once again led by sixth-year head coach Keith Schunzel, who was voted ASUN Coach of the Year after leading the program to its most wins in school history and finishing the second half of ASUN play at 7-1.

Owls on ESPN+ 
This weekend's matches will air live on ESPN . Fans can purchase the digital platform for $4.99 a month or $49.99 for a year's subscription that provides access to all events broadcast on the network.

Next Up
The Owls will close out their three-match homestand next Tuesday (Sept. 4) hosting ACC foe Clemson at 7 p.m.

Stat Leaders (2018)
Kills: 33, Lauren Chastang
Assists: 125, Lexi Broadwater
Digs: 197, Maddie Jones
Blocks: 35, Karlee Groover
Aces: 8, Lauren Chastang
Attack Percentage: .360, Quin Sutphin

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