KENNESAW - A change of leadership can often spurt the growth of a young program.

First year volleyball coach Karen Weatherington arrived at Kennesaw State with the mindset of forgetting that the first three seasons ever existed - the Owls won one game in 2006, four in 2007 and six in 2008 - and pretending that the Owls never fielded a volleyball team until 2009.

Her thought process has worked during the first two weeks of the 2009 season. Kennesaw State has won five of its first six matches and was co-champion alongside Georgia State of the Great 8 Volleyball Challenge, co-hosted by the two schools, over the weekend after going undefeated in three games at the KSU Convocation Center.

"We're trying to focus as being a year of firsts because we have so many things that are happening here that haven't happened before," Weatherington said. "It's just human nature to take about the past and what was before but we're trying to build on the good things that's going to be in the future, and that's what we talk about."

Of the five matches Kennesaw State won this season, three went to five games, and the 11 returning players from last season are already seeing differences with Weatherington at the helm.

"We're all a lot of disciplined and we take things a lot more seriously," said libero Selina O'Leary, who is one of three players that's been with the program from the start. "We work harder at practice. We work on getting to right spots every single time. We talk a lot more. Last year, we didn't really communicate. A lot of times, there was no one talking to each other. This year when we make a mistake, we tell each other what's wrong and then correct it."

With Weatherington being a defensive-minded coach, that's one area the Owls have vastly improved. In their 3-2 win over Nicholls State on Saturday night, the Owls had success running their offense when their defensive specialists were making successful dives against the aggressive-hitting Colonels.

"She is all about, 'I don't care how hit the ball and where you hit it, but if you can't play defense, you're not going to win,'" O'Leary said. "She's very 'get the ball up, get a block and worry about the kills later.'"

The addition of middle hitter Holly Knight, who led Harrison High School to a state title her senior year in 2006 before playing at Butler her freshman year in 2007, has helped the Owls defensively at the net.

Kennesaw State opens Atlantic Sun Conference play Tuesday at home against Mercer, and conference opponents may be discovering that the Owls can't be taken lightly. It's early in the season, but the Owls are in the top four in the Atlantic Sun in seven of eight statistical categories.

They're leading the Atlantic Sun with a .750 winning percentage. They're second in assists with 11.78 per game, thanks largely to the efforts of setters Ginny Frederick and Rachael Albright. They're third in the conference with a .200 hitting percentage and 12.22 kills per game.

Going undefeated in the Great 8 Volleyball Challenge is expected to give the Owls momentum for Atlantic Sun play. Outside hitter Asjia Stokes shared Most Valuable Player honors with Georgia State's Ashley Jones, and fellow outside hitters Chelsey Deneshia and Sabrita Gulley were named to the all-tournament team. All three players are leading Kennesaw State offensively.

As impressive as the Owls have been in the early going, they're not without their flaws. They've let opponents back into matches after taking 2-0 leads, which is a sign they're having difficulty sustaining momentum.

"It's something that we're going to work on," Weatherington said. "A big challenge of playing at the Division I level is that teams are good at making adjustments. We have to learn strategy to counter those adjustments."