Box Score MARTIN, Tenn. – The Jacksonville State volleyball team edged UT Martin in five sets in its first road conference game of the season to remain unbeaten in Ohio Valley Conference play.
After three home wins to open league play, the Gamecocks (10-8, 4-0 OVC) took their hot start on the road. Despite dropping the first set to the Skyhawks (8-10, 1-3 OVC), they were able to rally to win the next two and then the fifth for the 3-2 (21-25, 25-22, 25-22, 19-25, 15-13) victory. After Saturday's matches, JSU and Austin Peay are the lone unbeaten remaining in conference play.
"Winning on the road is always good," JSU head coach
Terry Gamble said. "I thought Charis (Ludtke) had a big match offensively and Emily (Rutherford) had a good all-around match that really helped get the win."
Ludtke, a freshman from Hamburg, Germany, had a career day to lead all Gamecocks with 19 kills from a .368 attack percentage. Rutherford, a junior from Georgetown, Texas, had a big performance with a double-double of 10 kills, second only to Ludtke, and 12 digs. Rutherford's 12 digs were also second on the team behind junior libero
Samantha Bohne's 21.
Senior
Nicole Merget and junior
Brianne Glidewell each had eight kills in the win with Glidewell adding five digs and a team-high five blocks.
The Skyhawks used a .226 hitting percentage to take the first set 25-21. UT Martin had an early 8-3 lead before JSU rallied to tie the set 18-18, but was unable to go ahead late before falling 1-0.
The second set included 11 ties in a back-and-forth battle. With the Skyhawks leading 18-16, Jax State went on a 5-0 run with Bohne serving in a run powered by kills from Ludtke, Hart and
Kaitlyn Zelhart. JSU held on to win the set 25-22.
The Gamecocks won the third set by an identical score as the second despite hitting a match-low .139 with only 10 kills. With JSU going for the win in the fourth set, the Skyhawks exploded offensively. They hit .500 with 21 combined kills during the set to power to a 25-19 set win.
Facing a decisive fifth set for the third time in its first four OVC matches, Jacksonville State took the early lead before UTM went ahead 13-12 late.
Allyson Zuhlke had a big kill to tie the match, and two Skyhawk errors followed to give JSU the set and the match.
"I think we are lucky to be 4-0 right now," Gamble said. "We could be 0-4 as close as the matches have been, so we still have a lot of work to do."
The win lifts Jax State to its first 4-0 start in OVC play since 2009, the last time the Gamecocks won the conference title. Before resuming conference action, the Gamecocks will host Alabama A&M on Tuesday at Pete Mathews Coliseum for a 7 p.m. match. Admission is free for all fans.
