By: Mark Wasik
2023 KSU Volleyball Schedule (Online) | 2023 KSU Volleyball Schedule (PDF)
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KENNESAW, Ga. – Kennesaw State volleyball is not shying away from a challenging schedule in its final year in the ASUN Conference, with the Owls playing eight of their first 11 contests away from home as their 2023 slate was announced on Wednesday by head coach
Keith Schunzel.
"Releasing our upcoming schedule is always an exciting thing for our players, staff and fans to look forward to as the season nears," said Schunzel. "This year's non-conference schedule will once again be incredibly challenging, with a broad array of teams from all over the country, a lot of winning programs, and different styles of play."
The Owls will open the season in Big Sky country for the first time in school history, as KSU will play in the Montana State Tournament in Bozeman, Mont., on Aug. 25-26. It will be a round-robin event, with host Montana State, North Dakota and Oregon State completing the rest of the field. This will be the first meeting in program history between the Owls and all three schools. The next weekend will be closer to home but still away from Kennesaw, as the Owls will play in the Tennessee Tech Tournament on Sept. 1-2. Completing the four-team field will be Tennessee Tech, East Tennessee State and Alcorn State.
The home opener for the Owls will be a rematch of a game from a year ago, as KSU welcomes Wake Forest to the Convocation Center on Sept. 8. That will also happen on the first day of the Kennesaw State Tournament, a three-day event that will also see the Owls take on Mississippi State on Sept. 9 and Western Michigan on Sept. 10. The match against the MSU Bulldogs is another rematch of a contest from last season, playing in Starksville, Miss.
The non-conference slate for KSU will conclude with their fourth straight tournament, a two-game event in Cincinnati at the Xavier Tournament. The Owls will open against Northern Kentucky on Sept. 15, before closing out the weekend on Sept. 16 against the host Xavier Musketeers.
"For us, it's not just about preparing for conference play, which is certainly very important," said Schunzel. "But it's also about seeing how many high-level ball games we can try to win and see if we can again get in the mix for a possible at large bid, one of our program goals every year. That is something that's exceedingly difficult and takes tons of summer preparation, discipline and hard work, but something that we're very upfront about when scheduling and talking with our team."
The ASUN has moved back to division play this season, which has everyone playing their division rival in home-and-away games and a single contest against the other division. KSU begins league play on Sept. 23 at Eastern Kentucky, before returning home to host Stetson (Sept. 29) and FGCU (Oct. 1). The Owls will close out their final ASUN season with a Senior Day contest against Bellarmine on Nov. 11, while this year's ASUN Tournament will be hosted by FGCU in Fort Myers, Fla., on Nov. 16-18.
Highlighting the returnees for KSU for this fall is 2022 ASUN Freshman of the Year
Manu Johnsen, a second-team All-ASUN selection, while
Claire Parsons was a third-team selection for an Owl team that finished 18-10 overall and reached the ASUN Tournament semifinals.
