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Score: Kennesaw State 3, Liberty 0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-14)
Records: Kennesaw State (11-2, 10-2), Liberty (6-8, 5-7)
Key Players: Dani Ballou (12 kills, 3 digs, .500 hit pct.), Emma Schurfranz (10 kills, 5 blks, .412 hit pct.), Lauren Chastang (10 kills, 7 digs, 2 aces), Jessie Cohen (37 assts, 6 digs) and Karlee Groover (12 digs).

THE STORYLINE 
The Kennesaw State volleyball team opened the ASUN Tournament in dominant fashion, sweeping No. 3 seed Liberty, 25-21, 25-21, 25-14, Saturday night to punch its ticket to next Friday's semifinals.

SCHUNZEL QUOTES
On Dani Ballou's great night…
"Dani was fantastic tonight, when she plays free as an attacker like that her hand is so live and her arm is so explosive teams have trouble stopping her. And I thought tonight she really let her arm go and do what her arm does, and Jessie [Cohen] set her really nice tempo balls all night. Dani had a great night and I'm really proud of her."

On Lauren Chastang's play…
"Lauren has had an interesting spring, because at times she hasn't put up 15-20 kills like she's been used to putting up in her first few years here. But what she has learned, and what I talked to her about, is hey it's one of those nights we're struggling to terminate and the other team is really focusing on you, figure out a way to block the ball, make a dig, get a kill out of the back row, come up with a big serve and then let our team transition out of it. There are all sorts of ways that a player of that caliber can impact the game, so I didn't want her to focus just on the fact that she wasn't killing it at a high level. But then you saw at the end she ended up with 10 kills and that's competitive greatness and that's what that kid is, she is one of the best competitors I've ever been around in my life."

On Jessie Cohen's setting…
"I thought Jessie played maybe her best match of the year. I think she is in a really good place and I think Lipscomb was eye-opening for her too. She needed to feel what that was cause that's what the tournament feels like and I think she had a really nice two weeks of training and she led into this match very well. You saw what happened tonight, she played fantastic, we were in rhythm all night and a big part of that was the pass and a big part of that was her. She did a really good job."

HOW IT HAPPENED
After a long rally to open the match, the Flames came away with the opening point, but it was quickly answered by a kill from Emma Schurfranz as the two squads traded points early in the set. The Owls eventually gained the edge behind a 3-0 run that featured a kill and an ace from Lauren Chastang before back-to-back kills by Dani Ballou put KSU on top 13-11. KSU clung to its two-point lead late into the set before a 5-1 swing gave the Flames a 20-19 advantage. Undeterred, the Owls raced to the opening set victory as a kill from Ballou opened a 6-1 run to give KSU the 25-21 victory. Ballou and Claire Parsons each logged a pair of kills while teaming up for a block before Chastang tallied the final kill.

The Owls carried that momentum into the second set going on a 5-0 run capped off with back-to-back blocks by Chelsey Abel and Schurfranz for a 5-2 lead. Liberty eventually knotted the set at 8-8 as the squads proceeded to trade runs. With Liberty leading 17-16, KSU managed to pull in front, 19-17, thanks to two kills from Ballou sandwiched around a Flames error. KSU stayed in front, extending its lead late recording five of the final seven points to win the set 25-21 and take a 2-0 lead at intermission.

KSU got off to a hot start in the final set, jumping out to a 5-1 lead thanks to two kills and ace by Schurfranz as well as a dual block with Abel. The Owls began to pull away as another kill from Schurfranz followed by back-to-back aces by Parsons sparked an 8-1 run capped off by three straight kills from Chastang to make it 17-8. From there KSU cruised to a 25-14 set victory hitting .357 in the set while holding Liberty to a -.029 hitting percentage.

NOTES
- The Owls hit .329 as a team marking the fourth time this year KSU has hit over .300 in a match.
- KSU held Liberty to a .089 hitting percentage, the fifth time this year the Owl defense has held a team to less than .100 hitting.
- Emma Schurfranz hit .412 for the match, her third match in the last four and sixth overall hitting over .400. She also tied her career-high with five blocks.
- Dani Ballou hit a career-high .500 in the match with 12 kills, her fifth match this season with 10 or more kills.

UP NEXT
The Owls will now host top-seeded south division squad FGCU in the semifinals next Friday (Apr. 2) at 7 p.m. in the Convocation Center.