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FORT MYERS, Fla. – Kennesaw State's Lauren Chastang reached a milestone 1,500 kills and KSU overcame a below average hitting performance by shinning in several other areas to claim its 12^th-straight win. The Owls won with a 3-0 sweep over Eastern Kentucky Thursday morning in the opening match of the 2021 ASUN Volleyball Championships. This year's eight-team tournament is being held on the campus of top-seed FGCU in Alico Arena.
 
The Owls moved to 20-8 overall and achieved the fourth 20-win season in the past five years under ninth-year head coach Keith Schunzel. KSU, the second East seed, now advances to the ASUN semifinals for the seventh straight season and will face top West seed Jacksonville State on Friday afternoon at 4 pm.
 
OWL OF THE GAME: Chastang, playing in her final ASUN tournament, was everywhere on Thursday. She led the team in kills with 11 while posting a .276 hitting percentage. She also notched five aces in the contest, the second-highest total of the season for her. Chastang added six digs in the win as well.
 
STAT OF THE GAME: The Owls made their impact Thursday not from their attacking power, though they did finish with a .272 hitting percentage (43K-15E-103TA). On aces, KSU had eight in the three-set victory, to zero for the Colonels. Total team blocks were almost at the same margin, with eight for KSU to one for EKU. That gave the Owls a +15 point advantage just off those two categories.
 
SET ONE: EKU held an early 6-4 advantage. The Owls took control with a 9-0 spurt for a 13-6 edge, and held off a rally with a 6-0 run for to go ahead, 22-14. Jasmine Brown finished off the set with a kill for the set win.
SET TWO: KSU took the lead for good at 4-3, and though the Owls could never comfortably put the Colonels away, they slowly built a 24-17 advantage. EKU starved off set point four times before again Brown put it away with a kill.
SET THREE: This was the best set of the day for EKU, leading most of the opening 10 points and going up 6-5. A 5-0 run from the Owls, which included back-to-back aces and a kill from Chastang, gave the momentum back to the higher seed. Dani Ballou's kill would end the match and advance the Owls to Friday.

QUOTEABLE: "Proud of our fight this morning. We got a little cleaner with the ball as the match went on, which was nice to see. We passed it really well all day and Jasmine and Claire (Parsons) both had a nice game attacking the ball from the middle. Survive and advance is all that matters right now. On to tomorrow we go." – KSU head coach Keith Schunzel 

NOTES: 
-Kennesaw State's 12-game win streak is tied for the sixth-longest active win streak in the nation, and is the longest for the team since winning 14 straight in the 2018 season.
-The Owls have won their last 10 straight sets, dating back to the game-clinching set victory over FGCU on Nov. 7 in Kennesaw. That run includes three straight 3-0 sweeps (North Florida, Jacksonville, Eastern Kentucky).
-With her 11 kills in the match, Chastang currently has 1,506 in her career. The Owls' all-time kills and aces leader (158), she became the 10^th player in ASUN history to reach the 1,500-kill level.
- Emma Schurfranz joined Chastang in double-figures for kills with 10, while Brown added nine. Brown also had four blocks on the day, with Schurfranz adding three.
- McKinley Ferguson paced the team in assists with 38, while Shelby Dennis posted a team-high 14 digs.