We talk with head coach Keith Schunzel and middle blocker Claire Parsons of the women’s volleyball team as the new season starts at the end of August.
As the 2023 campaign starts, the Kennesaw State volleyball team is looking for a winning season.
Last year, the Owls were ranked to finish third in the preseason poll and had a 90% win record.
“Very few teams win every game or have years where you just have these magical kind of like 28-1 type seasons, so I think losing always gives motivation,” Head Coach Keith Schunzel said.
When asking Claire Parsons what she thought it would take to win, she talked about the increase in effort and team bonding for the season.
“If we can look to give that 100% effort every time we’re in the weight room or at practice…will be really key for us,” Parsons said.
Schunzel is going into his 11th season as head coach for the Owls and has a record of 176-99 (106-44). This means he has won over 60% of his games with Owl Nation in addition to the two conference championships.
The Owls have five seniors returning to the team including McKinley Ferguson, Lanie Vantrease, Shelby Dennis, Claire Parsons and Emma Schurfranz.
Schunzel commented that he is looking toward these seasoned players to guide the team to an ASUN championship due to their leadership, consistency and experience.
As one of the most experienced players, Parsons has a current total of 264 blocks after three years with the Owls.
“I’m going to try and break the most blocks from a player at Kennesaw,” Parsons said.
Liesl Englebrecht holds the current record for total blocks with 367. To break this record, Parsons would need to complete 103 blocks this upcoming season.
Both Schunzel and Parsons are looking forward to the team’s 8th annual Griffin’s Game. Griffin’s Game is special to the volleyball team as the money that is raised during that game is donated to a family that has a child with cancer. This game is on Sep. 9 against Samford University at the Convocation Center.
“When your kid has cancer it’s something indescribable and it’s hard unless you have been through that,” Schunzel said. “So just to be able to share the love and support that we got, and give them hope…not just financially…is really important.”
“It’s a sweet time that we get to honor not only Griffin but a family that the coaches choose to donate the money to,” Parsons said.
The Owl’s first home game of the 2023-24 season is Sep. 8 as they start off the KSU invitational against Mississippi State.
Schunzel ended the interview with one last message for Owl Nation, “GO OWLS!”
