Winner.

It's one of the many words used to describe the Kennesaw State outside hitter, Lauren Chastang. How did she become a winner? For Chastang, it all started in small-town Bay Minette, Ala.

After five seasons wearing the black and gold, Chastang has solidified herself as an all-time athlete at Kennesaw State. She moved into first all-time in the record books in kills and aces during her super senior year. Best known for her howitzer of an arm swing, she attests that she wasn't the biggest or strongest but her hard work is what separated her from the crowd.

Early Life:
Before Chastang broke records at Kennesaw State, she was just a girl who wanted to be like her mom, Kristye Chastang. Kristye, a former player at the University of Alabama, was Lauren's first coach when she started playing volleyball in the third grade. From an early age, Kristye could tell that Lauren was special not only because of her natural skills but because of her pure competitiveness.
"She was always a super competitor…She had an older brother and that kind of pushed her and we had them doing just about every sport in the rec league," said Kristie.

Although volleyball became the sport that Lauren homed in on, there were others that she could have pursued according to her father, Pelham. He says that others told him that Lauren had a good chance to play Division I softball, and she was also a standout athlete in basketball and swimming. For Lauren, swimming slowly began to fade because of the lack of the team aspect.

Once she got to high school, she quite literally couldn't have won any more than she did. Lauren attended Bayside Academy and was mentored under legendary coach Ann Schilling. Schilling saw the potential right away with Lauren calling her up to play varsity in seventh grade.

"She had that 'it factor' and of course she had that arm. I have never had a player that had that," Schilling said.

Schilling has now won 20 consecutive state championships at the 3A level in Alabama, a program worthy of its own story. Lauren helped win six straight titles in her time while winning a Gatorade State Player of the Year award. Schilling pointed out one moment that stuck out to her from Lauren's career. In her sophomore year, Lauren's team was in the state championship match. They faced a team that had nine seniors and were taken down to the wire in set five. Down 14-13 with a title and the title streak on the line, the setter put a ball up and Lauren cranked it down the line. Schilling says that it's rare to find a player of that age able to take a swing of that caliber. They would go on to win set five and another state title. Schilling described Lauren at that moment as fearless; a trend that would continue through her career.

Typically, a player with her resume along with over 2,000 career kills would be committed to a college in the blink of an eye but that wasn't exactly the case. While she had offers from Samford, Wofford and several other schools, the recruiting process started slow. Lauren credits that to playing four high school sports along with being a late bloomer in her eyes but things eventually fell into place for her.

Choosing KSU:
After a historic high school career, it was time to find a college. According to the Chastang family, it was all about the right fit. They all said that they found the fit when they spoke with coach Keith Schunzel.

Schunzel found out about Lauren after a KSU coach had gone to watch future Owl player Sidney Shelton and wound up watching Lauren because her game was in extra time.

"Hey there is a kid on Bayside with a cannon of an arm. She throws a 99 mph fastball," Schunzel said.

When the Chastangs put an emphasis on coaching fit, it was important that they found a genuine connection with a coach, and they all did. Lauren says that she was sold on coach Schunzel after her first phone call.

"He was a breath of fresh air…I knew he was genuine because we started talking about stuff other than volleyball." Lauren said, "He even asked me who my favorite country music artist was and I told him it was Tim McGraw."

After her phone call with Schunzel, she still hadn't committed but wanted to ensure that she made the right decision. That call lead to her first on-campus visit.

"I don't think anything could've gone worse on our visit, but I absolutely loved it," Lauren said. During Lauren and Kristye's visit, the weather was foggy and rainy. The student center was closed due to construction and the campus was a "complete ghost town" according to Lauren. She says that there was an undefinable quality to KSU that allowed her to love it. The first sign to her and Kristye was pulling up to campus and exiting on Chastain road, just two letters off their last name.

Lauren was finally sold and committed to KSU shortly after her visit, but Pelham wasn't able to make the trip so he made one of his own. He drove up to Kennesaw State and got his own tour of campus with Schunzel. Schunzel said that that is the first and only time a parent has come to visit campus without the student-athlete present.

"We basically did another visit with Pelham." Schunzel said, "We toured him around and I had a lot of one-on-one time and it was at that point there were some very direct questions asked."

From Pelham's perspective, he knew that Lauren was serious about relocating states to play for Kennesaw State so it was time to meet the coach.

"Listen, this is my (oldest) daughter." Pelham said, "This is my girl, I told him 'I want to come to meet you and I want to know what kind of person you are.'"

After his visit, Pelham walked away as impressed as the rest of the Chastangs.

Career:
At this point in her life, Lauren had moved from her small-town life to metro Atlanta to play for a strong volleyball program. Lauren says she, like many others in their first year in college, went from the top of the food chain to a bottom feeder. From the outside looking in she may have just looked like another 5'10, dark-haired, outside hitter but two things stood out to teammate Kristi Piedmonte, her "hatred for losing" and of course, "the whip". Like many had noted through her career, Piedmonte heard a different noise when Lauren hit the ball than from others. Lauren may have been a freshman among many elite players, but she revered the competition that she found early from her new team.

"Stepping on the court, I knew these girls were just like me." Lauren said, "It was like taking the player I am and multiplying it by 14. I was in heaven."

After her freshman season, she had officially arrived as a vital player for the Owls, finishing off two separate teams in the ASUN Conference tournament and getting the final kill in those matches. As always for Lauren, it was time to get back to work. Her sophomore season was when the nice, soft-spoken woman that the team loved turned into a star. She put her stamp on the program by setting the KSU single-season record with 469 points. Her 417 kills ranked third at the time. Throughout her entire career, she always had the same mindset.

"People overlook us, I'm not the tallest outside hitter, I don't jump the highest but I will work harder than you and I will hit the ball harder than you," she said.
In her junior and senior seasons, you might as well have kept a pen handy. In her junior season, she broke the KSU single-season record for total kills (454), aces (65) and points (553) while also ranking sixth in the NCAA for total aces and eighth for aces per set (0.57).

COVID-19 then hit the world.

Her senior season was broken up into two years thanks to a COVID-19 eligibility year from the NCAA. She played in the spring and fall of 2021 in her final campaigns.
It was a calendar year to remember for her and her legacy at Kennesaw State. Of all the special moments in her legendary career, maybe the most memorable would be her record-breaking performance versus her mom's former alma mater, Alabama. Lauren moved into the sole lead in service aces all-time for KSU during that match. Lauren didn't know or put too much into it. She said that it's nice to receive accolades for her hard work, but her competitiveness drives her to focus on winning primarily.

As she and her father said verbatim, "We're not stats people."

Family:
Over Lauren's career, Kristye and Pelham have made it to roughly 95% of Lauren's games during her KSU tenure. They still live in Bay Minette, Ala. about a five-hour drive to Kennesaw State. They also have two other children whose athletic careers they follow, Austin and Caroline. Austin is a baseball player at Southeastern Louisiana and Caroline is currently finishing up volleyball at Bayside. Kristye and Pelham also travel on the road with the team often. They have been to games from Liberty in Lynchburg, Va. to Provo, Utah at BYU to watch her play.

During Lauren's high school senior season, her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. As she went off to college, Kristye eventually went into remission until once again in her senior collegiate year, Kristye was re-diagnosed. Her fight continues but she maintains a positive attitude with the help of her family and a phrase she shares with her daughter.

"Today we dance." A bible verse from Ecclesiastes 3:1-22, that highlights that there is a time for everything. Lauren has the verse tattooed on her hand.

"She's the strongest woman I know. She's a warrior."

Gunnar Raney, Lauren's fiance, says that the Chastang's are a family that is beyond committed to their children's sports. He points out that not only do Pelham and Kristye go to the events but so does he along with grandparents and extended family.

"Lauren is the rock of every community she belongs to," he said.

Leaving a Legacy:
It's become difficult to pin down just one thing that has made Lauren a winner. Is it the hard work and competitiveness? Is it the love and pure ability for the game? Or is it her caring and loving nature for others? The answer seems to be, all of the above. Once the Owls season ended and Lauren's KSU playing days were officially over, her biggest concern was her teammates. She said several teammates apologized to her about not getting further in the tournament and she told them that it wasn't their fault and didn't want any of them to feel that way. After five years as a dominant player in a superb program, her career has come to an end but Lauren says that it's not the records or on the court memories as much as the relationships she will take with her.

"Volleyball will end one day...It's not the end of the world. Cherish the people around you," she said.

That day has come for Lauren but like the phrase she shares with Kristye, this is a time for gratitude. After representing Kennesaw State for several years, she now looks to do so on the other side of the glass.

The future for Lauren is open for the moment as she focuses on her wedding this upcoming February with Gunnar. She currently works as a nutrition and fitness coach virtually with an interest in playing volleyball overseas. With a bright future ahead, we have not seen the last of Lauren Chastang.

"Y'all can't get rid of me, I'll be at the games."
        
 

Related Videos

Now Playing:

• Play Video