Box Score

HUNTSVILLE – The Jacksonville State volleyball team stepped out of conference play on Wednesday night and swept Alabama A&M on the road.
 
The Gamecocks (13-9) swept the Bulldogs (6-16) for the third time this season with a 3-0 (25-16, 25-18, 25-15) victory in Huntsville. JSU has now swept AAMU at home, on the road and on a neutral court (Auburn) this season. The win was a bounce back for the Gamecocks after having their six-match win streak snapped on Saturday in a hard-fought 3-2 loss to Belmont.
 
 "I was happy with the way we played tonight and that we got better all match," JSU head coach Terry Gamble said. "Nicole (Merget) and Sam (Bohne) played really well for us."
 
Senior Nicole Merget had a team-high 13 kills on a .500 attack percentage. Junior Emily Rutherford and freshman Charis Ludtke had eight and six kills, respectively. The Gamecocks didn't have time to accumulate many stats in the quick match. There were only 36 assists overall with freshman setter Jennifer Hart dishing 28 of them.
 
Junior Samantha Bohne led the way defensively with nine digs. Three players had five, including Rutherford, junior Brianne Glidewell and freshman Hannah Kirk. JSU's defense held the bulldogs to just a .163 attack percentage for the match. 
 
JSU controlled the match early doubling up AAMU in the opening set 8-4. Later, JSU would hold a 20-16 advantage and take the final five points to win the set 25-16.
 
The second set was tied early at 4-4, but a 6-0 run involving kills from Allyson Zuhlke, Merget and Hart forced Alabama A&M to use a timeout to slow down JSU's momentum. The Gamecocks continued a dominating performance leading to a 25-18 set win to take a 2-0 match lead.
 
Coming out of the break, Jax State never slowed, jumping out to a 9-2 lead to open the third set. That lead would grow to 20-8 before JSU would eventually win 25-15 and finish the match. Glidewell recorded four of her five total kills in the final set.
 
The Gamecocks head to Kentucky to return to Ohio Valley Conference action with a pair of matches this weekend. JSU will face Eastern Kentucky, a team tied with the Gamecocks atop the conference standings, on Friday at 6 p.m. CT before a 1 p.m. match Saturday afternoon at Morehead State.