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NEWARK, N.J. – The Kennesaw State volleyball team opened conference play with authority Tuesday afternoon, sweeping NJIT in three sets, 25-19, 25-12, 25-22.
 
As a team, the Owls hit a blazing .352 to mark only the second time this season KSU has finished hitting above .300. Five Owls finished hitting .400 or better led by Quin Sutphin with a .611 hitting percentage, registering 11 kills and zero errors.
 
How it Happened: The Highlanders (1-15) and Owls (8-5) went back-and-forth to open the match before KSU seized control with a 7-0 run, capped off by a block from Lauren Chastang and Jasmine Brown, to lead 13-6. NJIT answered with a 4-0 run of their own, but back-to-back kills from Chastang and Emma Schurfranz gave the Owls a five-point lead that they would utilize the rest of the way. 
 
The Owls kicked it into high gear in the second set, jumping out to a 10-5 lead. KSU pushed its lead to as high as eight points, 18-10, following back-to-back kills from Chastang and Sutphin. A kill from Dani Ballou then sparked a 6-0 run to give the Owls set point, 24-11. KSU hit .462 in the second set to win 25-12.
 
The Highlanders bounced back in the third set, jumping out to a 5-1 lead before extending its lead to 13-7 following a 3-0 run. Trailing 15-9, the Owls responded with a 5-0 run to pull within one 15-14. KSU finally took the lead, 18-17, behind a 3-0 run featuring blocks from Lexi Broadwater and Brown and Ballou and Sutphin sandwiched around an ace from Jessie Cohen. The two squads traded points, but a 3-0 run gave NJIT a 22-20 advantage. An error from the Highlanders gave KSU the spark it needed as the Owls rattled off the next five points, capped off by back-to-back blocks from Quin Sutphin, to win the set 25-22 and earn the sweep.
 
Notes: Quin Sutphin's .611 hitting percentage marked the second time this year she has hit over .600, seventh time above .300 … Jasmine Brown and Emma Schurfranz both hit over .400 in the match, recording seven and six kills respectively … Lexi Broadwater averaged over 12 assists per set (12.3), recording 37 assists … Lauren Chastang fell two kills shy of yet another double-double, logging 10 digs and eight kills against NJIT … KSU's 13 errors committed marks a season-low … Dani Ballou tied her career-high with two aces as the Owls finished with seven total.
 
Quotes: Head Coach Keith Schunzel
On starting ASUN play…
"We've been looking forward to starting conference play after a hard non-conference schedule. We've grown a lot between the beginning of August and now, so it was nice to go on the road to start conference and get a win." 
 
Up Next: The Owls finally return to the Convocation Center this weekend, hosting North Florida Friday night at 7 p.m., before taking on Stetson Sunday in the fifth annual Griffin's Game at 1 p.m.