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Box Score 2 CENTRE – The Jacksonville State volleyball team wrapped up its Gamecock Invitational on Saturday with a 1-1 mark on the final day defeating Alabama A&M, before falling to UL Monroe in the nightcap.
JSU (4-3) downed the Bulldogs of Alabama A&M (1-6) in four sets (25-19, 21-25, 25-17, 25-11) in their opening match of the day. The Gamecocks jumped put to a 7-2 lead, but would not extend that lead any further until the final point of the game. A .435 team hitting percentage in the opening frame guided JSU to taking the first, 25-19.
AAMU responded winning the following set, 25-21. The two teams went back-and-forth before a 5-0 run for the Bulldogs broke a 14-14 tie.
JSU won the third set 25-17 to regain a set advantage, and then finished off the match running away with the fourth and final set, 25-11.
Senior Emily Rutherford notched a double-double in the win with 12 kills and 11 digs. Sophomore Charis Ludtke finished with a team-high 16 kills hitting .341 against AAMU. Defense was key for JSU as it held the Bulldogs to hitting .142 combined. Sophomores Hannah Kirk and Jennifer Hart posted double digit digs with 16 and 11, respectively. Sophomore Allyson Zuhlke had four blocks to go along with her 11 kills.
In the final match of the two-day tournament, JSU lost a tough one to UL Monroe (26-24, 25-12, 26-24). The three-set match twice required the teams to play beyond the 25th point.
The first set against the Warhawks (5-3) was very tight never separating by more than three points either way. Jax State went from trailing 21-19 to taking a late one-point lead forcing ULM to call for time. After the break, ULM came from behind winning four of the next six points to escape with a 26-24 set win.
After having the first set slip away, the Gamecocks struggled to get started in the second falling behind early en route to a 25-12 defeat. The third frame was back tight again, and unfortunately, like the first, had a tough ending for JSU. The Gamecocks again led late, 22-20, when a 4-0 ULM sealed the match for the Warhawks winning, 26-24.
For the second time of the day, Ludtke led the Red and White in kills with 13. She finished with 29 on the day. Freshmen Mackenzie Rombach and Kim Krutsinger each had six kills in the loss to ULM. Hart dished 32 more assisted giving her a total of 70 for the final day of the tournament. On defense, Kirk led with 12 digs followed by Rutherford with 11.
JSU resumes non-conference play next weekend with a trip to Grand Forks, N.D., to play four games in the University of North Dakota Tournament. The Gamecocks will open with South Dakota on Friday morning. Jax State returns home to play at the newly renovated Pete Mathews Coliseum on October 2 against Jackson State.
