JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville State volleyball team is gearing up to host the inaugural Gamecock Invitational this weekend in Centre, Ala., at the Cherokee Center and Arena.
 
The Gamecocks (2-1) enter their home tournament coming off a pair of victories in the opening weekend of the season at the Kennesaw State Invitational in Georgia. While the event won't be played at JSU's Pete Mathews Coliseum as renovations to the facility wrap up, head coach Terry Gamble feels his team is excited to get to play in front of a local crowd.
 
"The Cherokee Center is gorgeous, it's going to be a fun facility to play in," said Gamble. "I've heard from people up there that they want to come watch us play. We're excited to just get to sleep in our own beds for two days in a row and go play volleyball."
 
Last weekend, JSU swept both Savannah State and Alabama State in straight sets before dropping their final match to Kennesaw State. Sophomore Hannah Kirk and true freshman Mackenzie Rombach were named to the All-Tournament team. In her first collegiate game, Rombach hit .556 with six kills, three service aces and two blocks in the win over SSU. She finished the weekend with 16 kills on 32 swings for a .406 hitting percentage. Kirk had a standout performance as well leading the Gamecocks with 35 digs.   
 
"(Rombach) went head-to-head with everyone the weekend in the middle and she's going to keep getting better," said Gamble. "Every drill she does she does with one-hundred percent, hints her performance this weekend. Hannah had a great weekend too. She ball controlled well. She touched a lot of balls and she serve received well which we needed."
 
Sophomore setter Jennifer Hart got off to a strong start with 70 assists in the first three games for a 7.78 assist per set average. She set the tone for JSU's offensive attack led by senior Emily Rutherford and sophomore Charis Ludtke who tied with a team-high 23 kills each.
 
The Gamecock Invitational will begin with the first match at 9 a.m. on Friday morning and resume at the same time Saturday morning. Admission is free throughout the tournament. Among the five teams competing there will be five matches each day with the final game of both days, featuring JSU, scheduled for 7 p.m. The Gamecocks open against Alcorn State (0-3) at 2 p.m. on Friday before taking on Wofford (0-3) at 7 p.m. that night. On Saturday, JSU will meet Alabama A&M (0-3) at 11:30 before wrapping up the tournament against UL Monroe (2-2) that evening.
 
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
 
Friday, September 4th
9 am              Alabama A&M   vs           Alcorn State
11:30 am       Wofford              vs          UL Monroe
2 pm              JSU                    vs          Alcorn State
4:30 pm         Alabama A&M    vs          UL Monroe
7 pm              JSU                    vs          Wofford
 
Saturday, September 5th
9 am              Alcorn State      vs         Wofford
11:30 am       JSU                   vs         Alabama A&M
2 pm              Alcorn State      vs          UL Monroe
4:30 pm         Wofford             vs          Alabama A&M
7 pm              JSU                   vs.         UL Monroe