Kennesaw State’s volleyball team defeated Jacksonville University in three sets on Friday, Oct. 12, extending their winning streak to ten games and improving to a 16-4 record for the season.
The 4th annual Griffin’s Game was held in honor of the son of KSU’s Head Coach Keith Schunzel and his wife, volunteer Assistant coach Briana Schunzel. Each year, the event is dedicated to raising money through t-shirt sales and donations to help and support one local family dealing with childhood cancer. It has become an important tradition for the entire team and staff.
Game performance on Friday was a total team effort for the Owls, as six players had at least five kills and the team combined for 10 blocks. Karlee Groover led the way defensively with 18 digs.
The first set started off with both teams exchanging points until KSU was able to reach an 8-3 lead. Jacksonville never gained any momentum to climb back into the game, falling behind by as many as 12 points before losing by the same deficit to finish the set with a score of 25-13.
Both teams traded points in the second set until KSU once again increased their lead to 8-3. This time the lead stretched as high as 14 points. With a score of 24-10, Jacksonville fought hard for two more points but the Owls triumphed to take a 2-0 advantage in the game.
The third set started with Jacksonville building an early 4-1 lead. Even as KSU battled back, Jacksonville remained close throughout the match. In the end, the Owls were able to pull away, winning the last six points of the game to finish off the sweep, with a score of 25-15.
Responding to the early deficit at the beginning of the third set was an important part of finishing off the Dolphins, who have struggled for most of the season.
“When coach called a timeout, he told us that we needed to refocus to get back into the game,” outside hitter Lauren Chastang said.
Although Jacksonville’s Mallory Mattingly came into the game leading the Atlantic Sun Conference in aces per set as well as service aces, Chastang said that Schunzel has prepared the Owls for this game the same way that he has for every other match.
Setter Lexi Broadwater added that going into the game her approach was to focus on the opponent and not necessarily what her individual role was going to be.
With the win, KSU continued their dominance in the ASUN Conference. They have accumulated a 7-0 record in conference play and have dropped only three sets in their last seven matches.
The Owls look to continue their winning streak next Wednesday, Oct. 17, when they travel to Tennessee to face Lipscomb University before returning home to face North Alabama on Friday, Oct. 19, at 7 p.m.
