Friday, October 16
JACKSONVILLE
7 p.m.
Jacksonville State University
vs
Eastern Kentucky
JSU Volleyball Faces Big Home Weekend
10/15/2015 1:30:00 PM | Volleyball
JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville State volleyball team gets set to face two tough Ohio Valley Conference opponents this weekend when the Gamecocks host Eastern Kentucky and Morehead State inside Pete Mathews Coliseum.
JSU (11-13, 2-4 OVC) will take on EKU (3-18, 2-4 OVC) at 7 p.m. on Friday night, before welcoming Morehead State (6-14, 3-3 OVC) to The Pete for a Saturday afternoon match scheduled for 2 p.m. It's an important weekend for the league standings as the Gamecocks and Colonels meet with identical 2-4 conference marks in a three-way tie for ninth, but still just two games behind third place. MSU enters the weekend one game ahead in a tie for fifth place. The top eight teams earn a berth to the conference tournament in late November.
"This is a big weekend," said JSU head coach Terry Gamble. "In this conference there's no nights off. There's no 'we'll get a win here for sure or win there' kind of thing. So yeah, we're ready if we can get healthy. That's the key."
For Friday's game, Jax State hopes to continue a successful recent trend. The Gamecocks are 8-1 at home against EKU since 2006. EKU's record entering the match may not be indicative of how strong they really are. The Colonels faced a tough non-conference schedule, and in OVC play have already faced the top two teams in the league, Murray State and Belmont.
EKU features one of the top young defensive specialists in the OVC with freshman Chloe Rojas who's averaging 4.34 digs per set. She ranks fourth in the conference in digs making her the only freshman in the top 10.
Giving Rojas a challenge will be JSU's offensive attack led by sophomores Allyson Zuhlke and Charis Ludtke along with senior Emily Rutherford, all of whom have more than 200 kills. The offense is paced by sophomore setter Jennifer Hart, who's just shy of 800 assists this season.
On Saturday, the focus will shift from defense to offense when the Eagles step on the court. MSU freshman Merideth Jewell leads all OVC players with 333 kills. She's already been tabbed the league's Newcomer of the Week four times this season. JSU's defense, led by sophomore Hannah Kirk and freshman Mackenzie Rombach, is second in the OVC in blocks per set (2.24) and fourth in digs with 16.62 per frame.
The Gamecocks look to end a rough drought against Morehead State. JSU has only defeated MSU once in ten matches over the last five years, while the last home victory came back in 2009.
"I think we can play with (Eastern Kentucky and Morehead State) as long as we ball control," added Gamble. "That's the key. When we pass we're really good, we still have really good athletes on the team and we're still learning our game."
With a shifting lineup, expect to see freshmen Ashley Clingan, Kira Hahn-Ventrell and Mandee Eberle make an impact this weekend. Clingan and Hahn-Ventrell made their first collegiate starts in JSU's last game at Belmont on Saturday.
Live stats for both games are available at JSUGamecockSports.com. Video for Friday's match versus EKU will also be available courtesy of the OVC Digital Network. For updates throughout the season you can follow the Gamecocks on social media through facebook and Twitter. Admission is free to all JSU home volleyball games.
JSU (11-13, 2-4 OVC) will take on EKU (3-18, 2-4 OVC) at 7 p.m. on Friday night, before welcoming Morehead State (6-14, 3-3 OVC) to The Pete for a Saturday afternoon match scheduled for 2 p.m. It's an important weekend for the league standings as the Gamecocks and Colonels meet with identical 2-4 conference marks in a three-way tie for ninth, but still just two games behind third place. MSU enters the weekend one game ahead in a tie for fifth place. The top eight teams earn a berth to the conference tournament in late November.
"This is a big weekend," said JSU head coach Terry Gamble. "In this conference there's no nights off. There's no 'we'll get a win here for sure or win there' kind of thing. So yeah, we're ready if we can get healthy. That's the key."
For Friday's game, Jax State hopes to continue a successful recent trend. The Gamecocks are 8-1 at home against EKU since 2006. EKU's record entering the match may not be indicative of how strong they really are. The Colonels faced a tough non-conference schedule, and in OVC play have already faced the top two teams in the league, Murray State and Belmont.
EKU features one of the top young defensive specialists in the OVC with freshman Chloe Rojas who's averaging 4.34 digs per set. She ranks fourth in the conference in digs making her the only freshman in the top 10.
Giving Rojas a challenge will be JSU's offensive attack led by sophomores Allyson Zuhlke and Charis Ludtke along with senior Emily Rutherford, all of whom have more than 200 kills. The offense is paced by sophomore setter Jennifer Hart, who's just shy of 800 assists this season.
On Saturday, the focus will shift from defense to offense when the Eagles step on the court. MSU freshman Merideth Jewell leads all OVC players with 333 kills. She's already been tabbed the league's Newcomer of the Week four times this season. JSU's defense, led by sophomore Hannah Kirk and freshman Mackenzie Rombach, is second in the OVC in blocks per set (2.24) and fourth in digs with 16.62 per frame.
The Gamecocks look to end a rough drought against Morehead State. JSU has only defeated MSU once in ten matches over the last five years, while the last home victory came back in 2009.
"I think we can play with (Eastern Kentucky and Morehead State) as long as we ball control," added Gamble. "That's the key. When we pass we're really good, we still have really good athletes on the team and we're still learning our game."
With a shifting lineup, expect to see freshmen Ashley Clingan, Kira Hahn-Ventrell and Mandee Eberle make an impact this weekend. Clingan and Hahn-Ventrell made their first collegiate starts in JSU's last game at Belmont on Saturday.
Live stats for both games are available at JSUGamecockSports.com. Video for Friday's match versus EKU will also be available courtesy of the OVC Digital Network. For updates throughout the season you can follow the Gamecocks on social media through facebook and Twitter. Admission is free to all JSU home volleyball games.
Players Mentioned
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