Birmingham, Ala.—Jacksonville State freshman Jessica Starck had two service aces in the fifth game against Samford Wednesday night to help the Gamecocks to their first ever Ohio Valley Conference win at Seibert Hall. JSU defeated the Bulldogs, 3-2 (15-30, 30-28, 30-27, 26-30, 15-10).

JSU came out sluggish in the first game and didn’t take a lead in the match until late in game two, 22-21, when the Gamecocks started to play their game. The Bulldogs hit an impressive .682 in game one, while Jax State hit a negative .115 percent.

“We knew by the way we warmed up that we weren’t going to play well in the beginning,” said JSU head coach Rick Nold. “But we were able to come back and play our game and have some intensity.”

Senior Jennifer Brenneman had a double-double with 11 kills and 12 digs in the match, while Starck added ten kills. Senior Christina Cary had 14 kills and freshman Shari Weyer had 13, while libero Kisha West had 15 digs.

Samford was led by Stefanie Pickett with 15 kills and Krista Kettering had 36 assists on offense.

The Bulldogs fell to 4-8 and 0-1 in the OVC, as Jax State improved to 9-3, 1-0 OVC.