Saturday, February 16
2:00 p.m. EST – Kennesaw State (0-1) at Vanderbilt (1-0)
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Notes: KSU

The Opening Draw
» The Kennesaw State women's lacrosse team continues its road swing to open the year at Vanderbilt this Saturday. The Owls have faced the Commodores in either their first or second game of the season every year since the program's inception with Vandy winning all six meetings.

» Despite recording the loss, senior Alex Bunn made her return to the net in spectacular fashion in KSU's season-opener, breaking the KSU single-game record for saves with 17 at Arizona State. After one game, Bunn leads the ASUN in total saves and ranks second for save percentage (54.8).

» The ASUN Preseason Player of the year earned that moniker in her 2019 debut as Siena Gore netted a hat trick at ASU to lead the team. Gore was one of seven players in the conference to record at least three goals during opening weekend.

» Marissa Gore enjoyed a tremendous start to her sophomore season, setting career-highs for ground balls (4) and caused turnovers (3). Gore is in a three-way tie for first in the league for caused turnovers while ranked tied for fifth for ground balls.

» Senior Haley Swift was one of six players in the conference to record more than one assist during the opening weekend, leading the team with two.

» One of the league's top free position shooting teams a year ago, the Owls continued to shine from the eight-meter arc in their season-opener. KSU finished 3-of-4 for free position shots at ASU. The Owls' .750 free position shooting percentage currently ranks third in the nation.

» Six freshmen saw minutes in KSU's season-opener with Chesslyn Lamar netting her first career goal for the Owls.

Scouting The Commodores
Vanderbilt and the Owls square off Saturday for the seventh time in program history. Vandy is one of three non-conference schools KSU has faced every year since the program's inception with VU winning all six meetings.

KSU nearly snapped their losing streak against Vanderbilt last season, dropping a tough 18-14 game in Nashville with Siena Gore netting four goals.

Vanderbilt is under the direction of Beth Hewitt who was promoted to head coach this season following four years as the Commodores Associate Head Coach. Hewitt led VU to a season-opening victory over Wagner College, 16-7, in her Vanderbilt debut.

Sophomore Sophie Furlong led the way for the Vanderbilt attack with five goals on seven shots. Defensively, the Commodores have a three-headed monster in the net, with three goalies Lily Argyle, Madison Foglio and Grace Bell all splitting time at keeper.

Bunn-believable
Senior Alex Bunn put the ASUN on notice in her first game back between the pipes. Bunn fended off a potent Arizona State offense, breaking the KSU single-game record with 17 saves.

Bunn's 17 saves currently leads the ASUN while her .548 save prcentage ranks second.

Following her performance at ASU, Bunn moved into third on the KSU career saves list with 157, 33 saves shy of the overall record. She currently holds the KSU single-season record with seven wins during the 2017 campaign, recording 94 total saves, a mark that ranks fifth on the single-season record list.

Only one game into the 2019 campaign, the Roswell, Ga., native ranks among the NCAA's top-15 for saves per game (3rd), total saves (10th) and save percentage (15th).

Living Up To The Hype
The ASUN named Siena Gore its Preseason Player of the Year, and after one game, the sophomore has lived up to the title. Gore led the Owls at Arizona State with three goals and four draw controls and is currently ranked tied for fourth in the league in both categories.

Gore netted two of her goals on free position shots which stands at sixth in the nation. The Alpharetta, Ga., native ripped six shots on goal in KSU's season-opener, the third most in the conference and 23rd in the NCAA.

Gore is currently ranked fifth on the all-time career goals scored list with 73 while ranked sixth on the career points list with 78. She currently holds the KSU career record for free-position goals with 35, eight more than the next closest Owl.

After logging four draw controls at ASU, Gore stands in second all-time for career draw controls with 124 and is one of three Owls in history to record over 100 draw controls. Her current 6.47 draw controls per game average is nearly double the previous career record of 3.4.

Swift To Help
Despite being forced to leave the game early following a hard collision, senior Haley Swift remained the Owls key distributor in their season-opener, logging two assists. Swift was one of six players in the ASUN to log more than one assist on opening weekend.

So far in her career, the Acworth, Ga., native ranks third all-time with 49 career assists, just seven dimes shy of the current record held by Connor Zophy (2015-18). Swift holds two of the top-three spots on the single-season record list, recording 29 assists in 2017 to set the single-season record.

She also currently holds the career assists per game record averaging 0.96 per game.

Eight-Meters Out
The Owls continued their success from the eight-meter arc during their season-opener, going 3-of-4 from the hash. Siena Gore converted two of her three attempts, while Anna Giulitto scored on her only free position shot of the night.

KSU led the conference in free position shooting percentage during opening weekend, with all four other teams in action missing at least two attempts.

KSU's .750 free position shooting percentage ranks third in the nation. Siena Gore's two free position goals are good enough for sixth in the nation.

It's In The Blood
Siena Gore wasn't the only Gore to light it up in KSU's season-opener as twin sister Marissa Gore led the squad in ground balls and caused turnovers.

Marissa tied her single-game career-high with four ground balls while setting a new standard with three caused turnovers. She is one of three players to lead the league with three caused turnovers while tied for fifth in the conference with four ground balls. 

Her three caused turnovers already matches her season total from a year ago.

Staying Grounded
The Owls were one of the top teams in the country last season at scooping up loose balls, averaging 22.3 ground balls per game to rank eighth in the NCAA. 10 Owls recorded at least 20 ground balls during the 2018 campaign

KSU's 401 ground balls ranks second in KSU single-season history and eighth in ASUN single-season history.

Maura Palandro and Izzy Palermo are currently ranked among KSU's top-10 career ground ball leaders. Palandro is fifth with 78 while Palermo is ninth with 54

Maness Enters Third Season
Head Coach Laura Maness looks to continue to elevate the women's lacrosse program in her third season at the helm.

Since taking over in 2017, the Owls have had their best two-year stretch with 15 wins, more than the first four years of the program combined. In 2017, KSU recorded a program-best eight wins.

The rise in KSU's production over the last two seasons is noticeable, recording over 200 goals, 400 ground balls and 200 draw controls in back-to-back seasons for the first time in program history.

Making A Tournament Run
Kennesaw State was selected to finish fourth in the ASUN Preseason Coaches' Poll behind perennial powerhouses Jacksonville and Coastal Carolina and ASUN newcomer Liberty. Six-time ASUN Tournament champions Jacksonville finished just two points ahead of Coastal Carolina with both teams receiving three first-place votes.

The Owls returned to the ASUN Tournament last season for the first time since 2016, earning the No. 3 overall seed, the best finish in program history. KSU has reached the conference tournament in four of its six seasons, but have yet to record a win.

Next Up
Following Saturday's game, the Owls return to Kennesaw for their home-opener Saturday (Feb. 23) hosting Marquette at 1 p.m.
 

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