WAR EAGLE INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT CENTRAL

AUBURN – The Jacksonville State volleyball team will play its final non-conference weekend this week in the Auburn War Eagle Invitational, where it will play three matches.
 
The Gamecocks (5-6) have won five of their last seven matches but face another weekend of tough competition, when they open at 4 p.m. Friday against Northwestern State. The tournament will wrap up on Saturday, when JSU takes on the host Tigers at noon before a 5 p.m. match against Florida A&M.
 
"It's going to be every bit as tough as what we've seen," JSU head coach Terry Gamble said of the upcoming tournament. "Auburn just went five sets with Florida State, who's in the top five. Northwestern State is picked No. 2 in the Southland and is very good and well coached. Florida A&M is better than their record shows and even took a game from Wisconsin, who is a top-five team."
 
The Gamecocks have a history with two teams in the War Eagle Invitational field, having faced Auburn and Florida A&M in the past. Auburn's head coach, Rick Nold, served as the Gamecocks' head man for nine seasons from 2002-10, when he went 171-98  and won Ohio Valley Conference championships in four seasons.
 
It will be the ninth time JSU and Auburn have met on the court, with the Tigers holding a 6-2 advantage in the series. The Gamecocks have beaten FAMU in all three previous meetings, with the most recent being a 3-2 win in the first round of the 2009 NCAA Tallahassee Regional, where JSU was the No. 2 seed and FAMU the No. 3.
 
The Gamecocks are coming off of a 2-1 showing at the Ole Miss Magnolia Invitational, where their lone loss came in a 3-1 defeat by the host Rebels. They won the first set against Ole Miss, the first time the undefeated Rebels have lost an opening set this season.
 
 "We are working really hard," Gamble said. "Last week was a proving point to the girls of what I've been stressing, which is we can play with anybody in the country. Ole Miss was 9-0 coming into our match and we beat them in the first set and actually had a swing to go up 24-23 in the second set.
 
"We played our hearts out and it showed the girls that we can play with anybody. We turned around and didn't play our best against Mercer and Alabama State, but we found a way to win. That says a lot about the girls' effort."
 
After the weekend, JSU claimed a hard-fought five-set win at Alabama State on Tuesday. Despite his team not playing their best, Gamble took some positives out of being able to find a way to win on the road. He credits that to how much his team has matured and come together over the first three weeks of the season.
 
"We are a completely different team," Gamble said. "The kids are a little more used to me, and they are starting to believe in themselves and our system. You can see them get better at that and that's a good thing. When you when games when you aren't playing well, in my opinion, it means you are working hard and you care about the system."
 
This weekend will be the non-conference weekend for the Gamecocks, who open OVC play next week with home matches against SIU Edwardsville and Eastern Illinois. They host the Cougars Friday at 7 p.m. before a 1 p.m. Saturday match against the Panthers. Admission is free to all JSU home volleyball matches.