Friday, Feb. 19
5 p.m. – Kennesaw State (4-0, 4-0) at Liberty (2-3, 2-2)
Links: Live Stats | ESPN+

Saturday, Feb. 20
4 p.m. – Kennesaw State (4-0, 4-0) at Liberty (2-3, 2-2)
Links: Live Stats | ESPN+

Location: Liberty, Va. | Liberty Arena
Social Media: Twitter | Instagram
Notes: KSU

QUICK HITS
» After an explosive and perfect start to the 2021 spring campaign, the Kennesaw State volleyball team is set to take on Liberty this Friday and Saturday. Liberty heads into the weekend coming off a two-game win streak at the expense of North Alabama. The Owls remained perfect on the year after downing Bellarmine for the third and fourth time in their home-opener this past weekend.

» Sophomore Emma Schurfranz earned back-to-back ASUN Player of the Week honors this week after yet another impressive outing against Bellarmine. She recorded 29 total kills while hitting .419 on the weekend. She began the weekend with 19 kills, including two digs and four blocks Saturday before tallying 17 kills and a career-high five blocks in game two. With her stellar start Schurfranz ranks first in the ASUN for hitting percentage (.419), fifth for kills per set (4.07), and eighth for total kills (61).

» Lauren Chastang has been on a tear to open the year, totaling 68 kills, 31 digs, and eight blocks. She finished this past weekend with 31 total kills while hitting .341 percent against Bellarmine. She currently ranks third in the ASUN and 19th in the NCAA averaging 4.53 kills per set. She is also fourth in the conference for total kills (68) and eighth for hitting percentage (.287). Notching her 1,046th career kill she has now surpassed Sydni Shelton for fourth on the KSU career kills record list, becoming just the fifth player in program history to reach 1,000 kills.

» Junior Jessie Cohen has impressed over the first part of the season, racking up 179 total assists. Her current 11.93 assists per set average leads the ASUN and ranks 4th in the country. If maintained, it would mark the third straight season an Owl setter has averaged over 11 assists per set, ranking second on the KSU single-season record list. Cohen has also recorded 27 digs while ranked fifth in the ASUN with eight aces on the year. As a team, KSU is the only ASUN squad to average over 13 assists per set and is one of four teams to rack up at least 200 assists despite playing in at least two fewer matches than the top three teams.

» The Owl attack has been on display, recording 216 total kills so far this season. KSU currently averages 14.4 kills per set to lead the ASUN and rank 15th in the NCAA.  The Owls also lead the league, and rank 22nd in the country, with a .281 team hitting percentage. Both Lauren Chastang (3rd) and Emma Schurfranz (5th) rank in the league's top-5 for kills per set as two of five players in the ASUN to average at least four kills per set. Dani Ballou also ranks in the league's top-15, sitting in 14th with a 2.54 kills per set average.

THE LOUISVILLE SLUGGER
Emma Schurfranz has had a hot start to her sophomore season earning back-to-back ASUN Player of the Week awards.

The 2019 ASUN All-Freshman Team selection recorded a career-high 19 kills in KSU's season-opener at Bellarmine, adding two aces and tying her career-high with four blocks. She followed that performance with 13 kills, four blocks and two digs while hitting .550 in game two against the Knights.

After hitting .526 in the Owls' home-opener, she led the team with 17 kills and a career-high five blocks in the fourth game between KSU and Bellarmine.

She is currently the only player in the ASUN hitting over .400 on the year, ranked 34th in the NCAA with a .419 hitting percentage. Schurfranz is also fifth in the league averaging 4.07 kills per set, one of five players in the league to average over four kills per set.

OUT FOR THE KILL
The Owls currently have one of the top offenses in the ASUN as the only team in the league to average over 14 kills per set (14.40). That mark also ranks 15th in the NCAA with only 28 total teams in the country averaging over 14 kills per set.

KSU also leads the league and ranks 22nd in the country with a .281 hitting percentage. The Owls have hit over .300 as a team in two matches so far this season.

Both Lauren Chastang (3rd) and Emma Schurfranz (5th) rank among the league's top-10 attackers averaging 4.53 and 4.07 kills per set respectively. Junior Dani Ballou sits at 14th averaging 2.54 kills per set.

THE THUNDER ROLLS
Lauren Chastang has brought the thunder in the early part of the season, tallying 68 total kills, eight blocks and five aces. She kicked off the year with her 33rd career double-double tying her career high with 23 kills while adding 11 digs in game one against the Knights.

She recently became just the fifth Owl in program history to record 1,000 career kills, surpassing Sydni Shelton (2015-18) for fourth on the all-time career record list. Chastang has logged 1,046 kills in her career, looking to replace the current career record of 1,240 kills held by Sabrita Gulley (2007-10).

Chastang is currently one of six players all-time with over 1,000 career points (1,215) passing Sydni Shelton for fourth all-time.

If she can record 70 more digs this season, she will become just the third Owl in program history to rank among KSU's top-10 for career kills and digs.

With 90 career aces, Chastang needs just 10 more to become the second Owl in program history to record 100 career aces.

THE STAGE IS SET
Taking over as KSU's starting setter for the first time in her career, Jessie Cohen opened her tenure with a bang in the Owls' season-opener, registering 53 total assists.

She nearly earned her first career double-double as well adding a career-high nine digs to go along with six aces, a mark that tied the five-set program record.

Over the first four matches Cohen has totaled 179 assists averaging 11.93 per set. That average currently leads the ASUN and ranks fourth in the country. If maintained, that mark would rank second in KSU single-season history.

Cohen has also run the service line with eight total aces on the year to rank fifth in the ASUN.

FOR THE RECORD
The Owls are coming off a remarkable 2019 campaign in which they broke 22 team and individual season and match records.

As a team, the Owls set new standards for total kills (1,657), aces (231), assists per set (13.5) and points per set (18.24).

A handful of Owls are looking to make their mark in the career record book this season.

Senior Karlee Groover is looking to climb the record list currently sitting in third place with 88 career aces. Between her and Lauren Chastang, the duo could become the second and third Owls in program history to log 100 career aces.

Groover is one of four Owls to rack up over 1,000 career digs with 1,258 to her name. She will look to overtake Katarina Morton's (2014-17) record of 1,861 in 2021.

Other Owls looking to crack the record books include Dani Ballou who reached 500 career kills over the past weekend and is just 54 kills shy of Emily Bean (2010-13) for 10th on the career record list. Fellow junior Bri Becerra has totaled 466 digs in her career, looking to overtake Fanise Cannon (2013-16) who sits in 10th with 733 digs.

SHUT DOWN
The Owls have built a wall at the net so far this year averaging 2.33 blocks per set. If maintained, that average would rank second in KSU single-season history and mark just the fourth time KSU has averaged over two blocks per season.

Emma Schurfranz (17), Katie Crocker (16) and Claire Parsons (13) have all recorded 10 or more blocks on the season. Schurfranz currently ranks seventh in the ASUN for total blocks while Crocker ranks ninth.

Schurfranz has recorded at least four blocks in every match this year while Crocker opened the year with a career-high five blocks, recording four or more blocks in all but one match.

UP NEXT
After the trip to Liberty, KSU is scheduled to return to the Convo to host North Alabama Friday (Feb. 26) and Saturday (Feb. 27).
 

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