Friday, Sept. 27
7 p.m. – Kennesaw State (8-5, 1-0) vs. North Florida (6-8, 0-0)

Sunday, Sept. 29 | Griffin's Game
1 p.m. – Kennesaw State (8-5, 1-0) vs. Stetson (2-8, 0-1)

Location: Kennesaw, Ga. | Convocation Center
Links:
Match 1: Live Stats | ESPN+
Match 2: Live Stats | ESPN+
Social Media: Twitter | Instagram
Notes: KSU | North Florida

Quick Hits
» The Kennesaw State volleyball team will be back on its home court this weekend continuing conference play against North Florida Friday night at 7 p.m., and Stetson Sunday at 1 p.m. Sunday's match will be a special day in the Convocation Center as it marks the fifth annual Griffins Game, named for Head Coach Keith Schunzel and volunteer assistant Briana Schunzel's son, Griffin, who was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in 2015. 

» Dominating from behind the service line this year, the Owls lead the ASUN and rank 27th in the NCAA for aces per set averaging 1.79. KSU's 93 total aces on the year ranks 13th in the country. Four Owls have double-digit aces for the season, led by Lauren Chastang who ranks seventh in the nation with 29.

» Lexi Broadwater remains the top setter in the conference averaging 11.12 assists per set. She leads the NCAA with 578 total assists and sealed the deal to become the third Owl in program history to record 2,000 career assists this week with 37 assists at NJIT.

» As a team, the Owls are one of three teams in the league to average over 13 kills per set (13.52), leading the league with 703 total kills. Four Owls have hit the century mark in kills this season. Lauren Chastang ranks second in the ASUN with 192 kills followed by Quin Sutphin in ninth with 119, Emma Schurfranz with 112 and Jasmine Brown who hit 100 kills after logging seven at NJIT.

» Libero Karlee Grover is currently fifth in the ASUN rankings with a 4.13 digs per set average. Groover needs just 113 more digs this season to become the fourth Owl in program history to record over 1,000 career digs.  

» After being named the ASUN's Co-Player of the Week Monday, Quin Sutphin continued her impressive stretch hitting .611 at NJIT with 11 kills. The Fort Mill, S.C., native has hit .400 or better in four matches this year, leading the team and ranked seventh in the ASUN with a .313 hitting percentage.

Griffin's Game
This Sunday marks the fifth annual Griffin's Game. This year the Owls will honor 12-year-old Daniel Jones who is currently battling Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia for the second time in his young life. To learn more about Griffin's Game and Daniel's story as well as donate to his cause, click on the link HERE. 

The Owl Network's own Nolan Alexander also sat down with Head Coach Keith Schunzel and Volunteer Assistant Coach Briana Schunzel in the video below to talk about this year's Griffin's Game and the impact this match has had on the volleyball team and the local community for the past four years. 


Killing the Game
As a team, KSU leads the way for the ASUN with 703 kills, being one of three teams that is averaging over 13 kills per set (13.52).

The Owls are on track to break the single-season record for kills that was set last season. KSU has recorded over 50 more kills on the year than this point in 2018. If maintained, it would mark the third straight season, third time in program history, KSU has averaged over 13 kills per set in a season.

So far this year, KSU has recorded over 70 kills in three matches, Georgia Tech (71), Furman (76) and Samford (71), falling three kills shy of the current record against Furman. Before the season, KSU had only recorded over 70 kills in eight matches all-time, the most recent coming against USC Upstate in 2016.

Double Trouble 
With seven double-doubles already this season, Lauren Chastang is on track to break her personal record of 15 she set last season.

Chastang has 192 kills for the year, placing her second in the ASUN and 27th in the NCAA. She is one of six players in the league to average over three kills per set (3.69).

The BayMinette, Ala., native is also second on the team, ninth in the ASUN, with 143 total digs. Chastang is currently averaging 14.8 kills and 11 digs per set.  

Pocket Aces
The Owls have been lights out from the service line this year, serving up 93 aces to rank 13th in the country. KSU is averaging 1.79 aces per set, a mark that would break the single-season record.

Four Owls have recorded at least 10 aces so far this year with Lauren Chastang's 29 currently ranked seventh in the NCAA. Her current season total is already ranked ninth on the KSU single-season record list. 

Dr. Quin
This week's ASUN Co-Player of the Week, Quin Sutphin is currently leading the Owls hitting .313 for the year. She has recorded a hitting percentage over .300 in seven matches so far this year.

She hit a blistering .679 at Alabama with 21 kills, both career-high marks. Originally from Fort Mill, S.C., she is coming off her second match this year hitting over .600, recording a .611 hitting percentage at NJIT with 11 kills and no errors.

Sutphin's .313 hitting percentage ranks seventh in the ASUN, one of eight players currently hitting over .300 in the year.

Setting Up For Success 
Lexi Broadwater, holds her top ranking in the ASUN, averaging 11.12 assists per set, one of two players in the league to average over 11 assists per set. Broadwater also leads the nation with 578 total assists for the season.

Setting a career-high 63 assists against Furman, the senior tied the second-most assists ever in a single-match. In program history, an Owl has recorded over 60 assists in a match seven times, two of which have been Broadwater.

With 2,020 assists in her career, Broadwater is one of three players in program history to record over 2,000 career assists. 

The Film Room
The Ospreys are 6-8 this season. Head Coach Kristen Wright is in her second season after joining North Florida in December of 2017.

Three of the Ospreys come into the nest with over 100 kills each. Outside hitter Gabby O'Connell leads the way with 198 kills. From the defensive side, the Ospreys rank second in the conference with 695 digs on the year. Freshman libero Rocio Moro leads the conference with 253 digs and takes second averaging almost five digs per set (4.77).

The Hatters will be looking for a win coming into the weekend on a five-match losing streak. In 2018, Stetson went 8-8 in league play to mark its second highest win total in program history.

Ranked third in the conference, averaging 14.17 digs per set, the Hatters are solid defensively with Chelcie Spence and Eva Deisa recording 131 and 119 digs, respectively. 

Looking Ahead
Following this weekend's action, the Owls take a trip to Nashville for their only match of the week, squaring off against Lipscomb Friday (Oct. 4) at 7:30 p.m.

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