Friday, Mar. 5
8 p.m. – Kennesaw State (8-0, 8-0) vs Liberty (2-5, 2-4)
Links: Live Stats | ESPN+

Saturday, Mar. 6
7 p.m. – Kennesaw State (8-0, 8-0) vs Liberty (2-5, 2-4)
Links: Live Stats | YouTube

Location: Kennesaw, Ga. | Convocation Center
Social Media: Twitter | Instagram
Notes: KSU | Liberty

QUICK HITS
» The Kennesaw State volleyball team welcomes Liberty for its final home matches of the regular season this Friday and Saturday. The Owls look to keep their momentum rolling after downing UNA in back-to-back straight set victories this past weekend to improve to 8-0 on the year. Since 2016, the Owls are 41-7 on their home floor.

» Freshman Claire Parsons heads into the weekend slate after earning her second straight ASUN weekly award. Parsons received ASUN Defensive Player of the Week accolades after totaling 14 blocks against the Lions, including a career-high eight stuffs in KSU's second match. She is one of seven players in the league to record at least 30 blocks so far this season and is currently ranked fourth averaging 1.1 blocks per set. On the attack, Parsons has tallied 56 kills while hitting .270 on the year.

» The Owl attack has been on display this season, recording 406 total kills so far this season, averaging 14 kills per set to rank second in the ASUN and 31st in the NCAA. The Owls are also second in the league and 19th in the country, with a .276 team hitting percentage. KSU is one of three teams in the league to record over 400 kills on the year with the top two teams having played four more matches than the Owls. Three players, Lauren Chastang (2nd), Emma Schurfranz (7th) and Dani Ballou (9th), rank in the league's top-10 for kills per set. Schurfranz (.340) and Chastang (.282) also rank 3rd and 9th respectively in the conference for hitting percentage.

» Junior Jessie Cohen continues to impress in her first full season as KSU's setter, racking up 324 total assists. Her current 11.17 assists per set average leads the ASUN and ranks 22nd in the country. If maintained, it would mark the third straight season an Owl setter has averaged over 11 assists per set, ranking third on the KSU single-season record list. Cohen has also recorded 45 digs while ranked seventh in the ASUN with 10 aces on the year. As a team, KSU is second in the ASUN averaging 13.07 assists per set.

» KSU has been a sharpshooter from the service line so far this year averaging 2.1 aces per set to lead the conference and rank 12th in the country. The Owls have recorded double-digit aces three times this season including 13 the last time KSu and Liberty squared off. That mark was tied for second most in KSU single-match history. The Owls are one of three teams in the ASUN to record at least 60 aces (61), with the other two teams having played four more matches. Lauren Chastang (2nd), Jessie Cohen (T-9th) and Karlee Groover (T-9th) all rank among the league's top-10 for aces per set. If maintained, KSU's current per set average would set a new single-season record.

FLAVOR OF THE WEEK
The Owls have racked up the awards so far this season, earning at least one ASUN weekly award since beginning their season.

Sophomore Emma Schurfranz opened the year with back-to-back player of the week accolades following the first two weekends of the season. She hit over .500 in two of the first four matches, tallying 50 total kills and 17 blocks, logging at least four blocks in every match.

The following week KSU earned two of three conference accolades as Lauren Chastang was named the league's player of the week while Claire Parsons earned freshman of the week honors.

Chastang tallied 39 kills while hitting .341 at Liberty with 20 total digs. She opened the weekend slate recording her second double-double of the season with 17 kills and 11 digs. Chastang followed up that performance with 22 kills, one shy of her career-high, and nine digs in Saturday's victory, hitting .362 in the match.

Parsons meanwhile hit a blazing .417 against the Flames. She recorded 12 kills with a .500 hitting percentage in the first contest before tallying another seven kills in the second match. She also finished the series with five total blocks.

The freshman kept the momentum rolling earning defensive player of the week accolades this past Tuesday after recording 14 total blocks against UNA. It's the first time a freshman Owl has won defensive player of the week honors since Katarina Morton took home the award in 2014.

THE THUNDER ROLLS
Lauren Chastang has brought the thunder in the early part of the season, tallying 128 total kills, 63 digs, 14 blocks and 13 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 Bellarmine.

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 1,106 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 (1,286) passing Kelly Marcinek (2013-16) for third all-time.

If she can record 38 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 98 career aces, Chastang needs just two 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.

Cohen has totaled 329 assists averaging 11.17 per set. That average currently leads the ASUN and ranks 22nd in the country. If maintained, that mark would rank third in KSU single-season history.

Cohen has also run the service line with 10 total aces on the year to rank seventh in the ASUN.

ACE UP OUR SLEEVE
The Owls have been deadly from the service line to open the year, totaling 61 aces to rank second in the ASUN. KSU's 2.1 aces per set average ranks 12th in the NCAA.

Three Owls, Lauren Chastang, Jessie Cohen and Karlee Groover, all rank among the ASUN's top-10 for total aces with Chastang ranked sixth and Cohen and Groover tied for seventh.

As a team, the Owls have recorded at least 10 aces in three matches this season, logging 13 in their last match at Liberty. That mark is tied for second in KSU single-match history, a feat accomplished only three other time.

If maintained, KSU's current 2.1 per set average would set a new KSU single-season record.

Both Chastang (98) and Karlee Groover (97) rank second and third respectively on the all-time career aces list. They are both looking to become just the second and third Owls ever to record 100 career aces.

After totaling five aces against Liberty, junior Bri Becerra needs just 11 more aces to crack the career top-10.

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

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 and four blocks 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.

Schurfranz has hit over .300 in all but two matches. She is currently third in the ASUN hitting .340 on the year. She is also seventh in the league averaging 3.45 kills per set.

If maintained, her current hitting percentage would rank third on the KSU single-season record list.

UP NEXT
After this weekend KSU is slated to close out the regular season on the road at Lipscomb next Friday (Mar. 12) and Saturday (Mar. 13).

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