Courtesy: Atlantic Sun Conference
ATLANTA – ASUN Conference Volleyball league play continues this week, as we hit the midway point of league play. Kennesaw State remains the only unbeaten team in the league with a mark of 6-0. The Owls come home this weekend for the Fourth Annual Griffin’s Game against Jacksonville, before traveling to Lipscomb on Wednesday, Oct. 17th in a battle of the winners of the last four ASUN Regular Season Titles.
FGCU and Lipscomb don’t trail the Owls by much for the top spot, as they sit with ASUN records of 6-1 and 5-1. FGCU hits the road to Lynchburg, Va. for a battle of two of the ASUN’s best, as they take on Liberty, who holds a 4-2 ASUN record. Lipscomb hosts Jacksonville on Saturday afternoon in the Music City. NJIT looks to continue their winning streak with a home match with North Florida. The Ospreys will also travel to North Alabama to square off with the Lions for the first time in program history.
This weekend, several games will be broadcasted on ESPN3, ESPN+ and Facebook Live. For a full list of video and live state links, check out our full schedule.
FGCU Eagles (13-6, 6-1)
Twitter: @FGCU_VB
Next Three Matches: at Liberty (10/12; 6 PM – ESPN+); at Bethune-Cookman (10/16; 6 PM); vs. North Florida (10/19; 7 PM – Facebook Live)
Last Three Matches: vs. Stetson (W, 3-0); vs. Lipscomb (W, 3-1); vs. Kennesaw State (L, 3-1)
– The Eagles are 6-1 in the ASUN and stand in second place, a half game up on Lipscomb
– FGCU travels to take Liberty to take on the Flames for the first time in program history; their first game in Virginia since 2007
– Against Stetson, Dana Axner set a D-I era program record of 28 digs helping her earn Freshman of the Week
– Junior middle blocker Dani Serrano is one of the best on the block this season leading the ASUN at 1.36 blocks/set
Jacksonville Dolphins (2-16, 1-5)
Twitter: JAX_Volleyball
Next Three Matches: at Kennesaw State (10/12; 7 PM – ESPN+); at Lipscomb (10/13; 3 PM ET – ESPN3); vs Stetson (10/16; 7 PM – ESPN+)
Last Three Matches: vs. NJIT (L; 3-2); vs. North Alabama (W; 3-0); at North Florida (L, 3-0)
– Jacksonville hits the road to go north this weekend for matches against two of the ASUN’s best; Kennesaw State & Lipscomb
– In ASUN action, Mallory Mattingly ranks second in kills/set at 4.33 and third in total kills with 91
– JU is the best serving teams in the league ranking first in aces/set at 1.68 and total aces with 116
– Last time out, Hannah Marchand served up a career-high seven aces against NJIT
Kennesaw State Owls (15-4, 6-0)
Twitter: @KSUOwlsVB
Next Three Match: vs. Jacksonville (10/12; 7 PM – ESPN+); at Lipscomb (10/17; 7:30 PM ET); vs. North Florida (10/19; 7 PM)
Last Three Matches: at Liberty (W, 3-1); at FGCU (W, 3-1); vs. North Florida (W, 3-1)
– With a win vs. Jacksonville, KSU will match is best-ever start to ASUN play which occurred in 2016
– Friday’s match against JU will be KSU’s fourth annual Griffin’s Game, which raises awareness for pediatric cancer
– The Owls own a potent offensive attack, leading the ASUN in kills and rank second in kills/set, hitting percentage, assists and assists/set
– Lauren Chastang is tied for the ASUN lead in kills with 271 and ranks 40th nationally; she is 29 kills away from cracking KSU’s single-season top-10 list
Liberty Flames (7-12, 4-2)
Twitter: @LibertyWVB
Next Three Matches: vs. FGCU (10/12; 6 PM – ESPN+); vs. Stetson (10/14; 12 PM – ESPN+); vs. Jacksonville (10/19; 7 PM – ESPN+)
Last Three Matches: vs. Kennesaw State (L, 3-1); vs. Lipscomb (L, 3-2); at NJIT (W, 3-0)
– Liberty welcomes FGCU & Stetson into the Vines Center for the first time in program history
– Junior Casey Goodwin has been Liberty’s leading attacker in conference play, averaging 3.26 kills per set while hitting .297
– Freshman Kailey Macy recorded a career-high 10 blocks against Lipscomb on Friday; the most since for a Liberty player since 2013
– Junior middle blocker Anna Gragg posted a season-high 13 kills and added six blocks on Friday against Lipscomb. Gragg is hitting .356 with 2.17 kills per set during conference play
Lipscomb Bisons (10-8, 5-1)
Twitter: @LipscombVball
Next Three Matches: vs. Jacksonville (10/13; 2 PM CT – ESPN3); vs. Kennesaw State (10/17; 6:30 PM CT – ESPN+); vs. NJIT (10/19; 6:30 PM CT – ESPN+)
Last Three Matches: at FGCU (L, 3-1); at Liberty (W, 3-2); vs. Stetson (W, 3-0)
– Lipscomb hosts Jacksonville at Allen Arena on Friday before a mid-week bout with Kennesaw State next week
– Sophomore Megan Kuper has posted back-to-back double-doubles including a 21 kill & 11 dig performance last week against Liberty
– Carlyle Nusbaum leads the league in kills/set & kills with 4.30 and 217; both are good for 40th and 27th nationally
– Morgan Elmore ranks second in assists/set and third in total assists; she tied a season-high with 52 assists last Friday vs. Liberty
NJIT Highlanders (4-17, 2-5)
Twitter: @NjitVolleyball
Next Three Matches: vs. North Florida (10/12; 6 PM); vs. Manhattan (10/17; 7 PM); at Lipscomb (10/19; 7:30 PM CT)
Last Three Matches: vs. North Alabama (W, 3-0); at Jacksonville (W, 3-2); at Stetson (L, 3-0)
– NJIT has won back-to-back ASUN matches for the first time in program history with wins at JU and vs. North Alabama
– The Highlanders came back from a 2-0 deficit to capture their first win ever over Jacksonville last Saturday
– Adriana Nieto is one of the best liberos in the country and her 5.23 digs/set and 371 total digs rank 30th and 22nd nationally
– Jovana Baosic leads NJIT in kills with 137. She notched nine kills and hit .727 against North Alabama on Tuesday
North Alabama Lions (2-14, 0-7)
Twitter: @RoarLions_UNA
Next Three Matches: vs. North Florida (10/14; 1 PM CT); at Kennesaw State (10/19; 6 PM CT); vs. Lipscomb (10/23; 7 PM CT)
Last Three Matches: at NJIT (L, 3-0); at Stetson (L, 3-0); at Jacksonville (L, 3-0)
– The Lions come back home to host North Florida this Sunday; the first-ever meeting between the two teams
– Christina Ellwanger leads the team in kills and kills/set with 144 and 2.57
– Jayden Davila-McClary has posted double-digit assists in 12 of the 15 games she’s played in this year
– Genesis Benitez leads UNA in digs/set with a mark of 3.77. As a team the Lions rank fourth in the ASUN
North Florida Ospreys (6-16, 1-5)
Twitter: @OspreysVB
Next Three Matches: at NJIT (10/12; 7 PM); at North Alabama (10/14; 2 PM ET); at FGCU (10/19; 7 PM – Facebook Live)
Last Three Matches: vs. Stetson (L, 3-0); at Kennesaw State (L, 3-1); at Lipscomb (L, 3-1)
– North Florida hits the road this weekend for trips to NJIT & North Alabama
– The Ospreys are 5-1 all-time against NJIT and face UNA for the first time in program history
– Gabby O’Connell ranks fifth in the ASUN in digs with 229 and sixth in kills with 193
– The Ospreys rank second in the ASUN in kills (1008), first in assists (951), third in digs (1,151) & block assists (270)
Stetson Hatters (12-7, 4-3)
Twitter: @StetsonVB
Next Three Matches: vs. NJIT (10/5; 6 PM – Facebook Live); vs. North Alabama (10/6; 6 PM ET – Facebook Live); at FGCU (10/9; 6 PM – Facebook Live)
Last Three Matches: at FGCU (L, 3-0); vs. North Alabama (W, 3-0); vs. NJIT (W, 3-0)
– With 12 wins on the year, the Hatters have notched their most wins since 2015
– The Hatters +9 win improvement from 2017 currently leads all of the NCAA
– Briana Schmid is one of the most efficient hitters in the ASUN with a hitting percentage of .323, which sits third in the ASUN
– Hao Jin has been one of the best two-way players in the ASUN, ranking in the top 10 in kills, hitting percentage, block solos, block assists and total blocks
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