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NEWARK, N.J. – The Kennesaw State volleyball team began their Atlantic Sun championship title defense in dominant fashion, sweeping NJIT, 26-24, 25-11, 25-16, Friday night.

How it happened: KSU (10-4, 1-0) jumped on the Highlander's (1-13, 0-1) errors to take a 5-0 lead in the first set. The Owls built their lead to as high as 11-4, but NJIT answered with a 9-1 run to gain the lead, 15-14, and force a KSU timeout.

The Owls and Highlanders proceeded to go point-for-point, but KSU could not gain the edge as NJIT reached set point, 24-22. On the verge of dropping the opening set, the Owls fought off back-to-back set points to tie the match 24-24. KSU capped off the set, finishing on a 4-0 run, thanks to two errors from NJIT and kills from Lauren Chastang and Liesl Engelbrecht to win 26-24.

KSU rode that momentum into the second set, eventually pulling away from the Highlanders behind a 7-1 run to take a 13-6 advantage. The Owls continued to pull away with another 5-0 run, which featured back-to-back blocks from junior Madeline Johnson, putting them on the doorstep, leading 21-9.

Freshman Kaylee Morris sealed the dominant set with an ace. The Owls were on fire in the second set, hitting .455 with only one error and recording six blocks on their way to a 25-11 win.

It was a similar story in the third set as Chastang and freshman Dani Ballou combined for four kills to give KSU an early 9-4 lead. The Owls kept their foot on the gas, building their lead to as high as 21-11, following a 5-0 run capped off by another kill from Johnson.

NJIT attempted to pull their way back into the set, but it was too little too late as Johnson hammered a kill to end the set, 25-16, and clinch the sweep. 

Notes: The Owls finished the match hitting .298, improving drastically as the match went on, hitting .133 in the first set, .455 in the second and .344 in the third set … KSU has now won its conference opener seven straight seasons … Lauren Chastang extended her double-digit kill streak, which now stands at 12 matches, with a team-high 14 kills … Freshman Dani Ballou played like the ASUN Freshman of the Week, hitting .357 for the match with seven kills … Madeline Johnson provided a big spark off the bench, entering the match in the second set to record five kills, finishing the match hitting .625 with no errors … sophomore Quin Sutphin led the team with five blocks, marking her third straight match, fourth of the last five, with five or more blocks. 

Quotes: Head Coach Keith Schunzel
On recording a sweep in the conference opener...
"No matter who the team is, it's never easy to go on the road and get a win, especially in three sets. We let a big lead in set one slip away, but kudos to our team for staying calm, fighting back and pulling out the win and then controlling sets two and three in pretty dominating fashion. Every league game is a big one, so we're happy with the win and look forward to getting over to UNA tomorrow and prepare to battle." 

Up Next: The Owls close out the weekend in Alabama, squaring off against the newest ASUN member, North Alabama, Sunday at 3 p.m.