The volleyball team hosted a four-set Black vs. Gold scrimmage game in the Convocation Center Tuesday, Aug. 16 as it gears up for its opening match of the season.
Kennesaw State University’s head coach Keith Schunzel was very pleased with what he saw, though he knows his team has areas it needs to work on.
“I think our offense has really good speed. I think we’re passing the ball pretty well,” Schunzel said. “[But] blocking needs some work, our transition game needs a lot of work.”
When Schunzel took over the program in 2012, his team featured 10 underclassmen, including six freshmen and four sophomores. This year, KSU will have eight upperclassmen, including six juniors and two seniors.
“Our group’s a year older, and now we’ve got quite a few more upperclassmen who have been through the fire,” Schunzel said. “We just need to keep pushing forward.”
Many returning players will lead the Owls this year, including outside hitter Amariah Boyer, who led the team in 2015 with 302 kills. Setter Kristi Piedimonte is also returning, who had 967 assists last season, along with middle blocker Rachel Taylor, who totaled 11 blocks in 2015.
Schunzel is also impressed with what he has seen out of freshman middle blocker Madeline Johnson out of Plano, Texas.
The team’s opening match will be a home game against Missouri on Friday, Aug. 26 at 7 p.m. This opening weekend will cap off a difficult start to the 2016 season, according to Schunzel.
“Out of the chute, Missouri is No. 29 in the country in the preseason poll, so we’ll find out real quick where we’re at compared to that,” he said.
Following the match against Missouri, the Owls will host a doubleheader Saturday, Aug. 27 against Liberty University at noon before playing Pittsburgh University at 7:30 p.m.
“Liberty is really good — and Pittsburgh is really, really good — and then it doesn’t get any easier,” Schunzel said.
After the first three home games, the teams faces a handful of away games during the month of September. Despite the challenging lineup, Schunzel looks forward to playing a tough season and believes his team is ready after posting the best record in KSU history with 19 wins and nine losses in 2015.
“I think we needed a tougher schedule this year,” he said. “[The players] want to play the best competition, and that’s what we’re doing.”
