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KENNESAW, Ga. – The Kennesaw State volleyball team swept through the visiting Highlanders Tuesday morning, downing NJIT in straight sets, 25-15, 25-14, 25-18, in KSU's annual Education Day match at the Convocation Center.
 
How it Happened: The Owls (16-7, 9-2) took it right to NJIT (1-25, 0-10) in the first set, racing out to a 6-1 lead as a kill from Quin Sutphin capped off an early 4-0 run. The Highlanders pulled back to within two, 9-7, but KSU earned some separation with a 7-1 swing to lead 18-10. Lauren Chastang recorded two kills and two aces during the Owls' run. KSU pushed its lead to 10 points following a kill from Jasmine Brown to earn set point, 24-14, before Chastang laid down a kill to win the set.
 
The Highlanders and Owls traded points to open the second set until a kill from Dani Ballou sparked a 6-0 run to give KSU a 15-7 advantage. The Owls kept their foot on the gas, hitting .483 for the set. Kennesaw State closed the set out with a 3-0 run capped off by a kill from Katie Crocker, who recorded her first career kills in the set, to take a 2-0 lead.
 
The final set started off in similar fashion with both teams going point-for-point before the Owls pulled away thanks to a 6-1 run capped off by back-to-back kills from Brown to lead 11-6. Sutphin pushed the Owls' lead to six, 17-11, with a kill and back-to-back blocks as KSU kept NJIT at arm's length throughout the set. Emma Schurfranz finally put the nail in the coffin, closing out a 4-1 run to earn a 25-18 set win and the sweep.
 
Notes: As a team, the Owls hit .410 for the match, marking their third straight match hitting over .300 … five Owls finished the match hitting over .500 … Lauren Chastang led the team with 16 kills, recording a career-high .517 hitting percentage … Jasmine Brown was perfect on the day with eight kills on 14 attacks and no errors for a .571 hitting percentage to tie her season-high … Quin Sutphin logged her 10th match this season hitting over .400, finishing with a .444 hitting percentage for 10 kills … Lexi Broadwater averaged 14 assists per set, recording 42 total to break 1,000 assists on the season (1,017) … Karlee Groover recorded 19 digs in the match to go with three aces … KSU out-killed NJIT 49-29.
 
Quotes: Head Coach Keith Schunzel
On the mindset coming into the match…
"Just to keep moving forward. Sunday certainly didn't go how we wanted to, it was a tough travel weekend, long road trip and UNF played well. So today we just wanted to keep moving forward, reset our brains a little bit, play clean, do some things we've been working on offensively, compete on defense and we did. We played a nice match."
 
On key performances…
"I think anytime that Lexi [Broadwater] comes out with a real organizational mindset on the court, where she dictates where people are going and a real good demeanor that helps. Certainly, [Karlee] Groover and the back row, how we are handling the ball, how we are communicating defensively on serve receive is huge. And [Lauren] Chastang is just doing a really good job of playing consistently. Lots of heavy kills but also passing the ball great and just making us play better volleyball as a team."
 
On senior and alumni day Saturday…
"It's always fun to honor those guys, the time they have put on the court and off the court. Four years is a long time to do this and both of our seniors have done it at a really high level. They've trained hard, worked hard, and have done great things. That's always fun and hopefully we get a few alumni coming back to help us celebrate. Lipscomb is always a great rivalry. They are going to come in with fire in their eyes and our team always enjoys playing them. It will be a fun day."
 
Up next: The Owls will honor their two seniors Madeline Johnson and Lexi Broadwater Saturday night as they host Lipscomb at 7 p.m. for senior day and the annual Alumni Day match.