JACKSONVILLE – A furious rally by the Jacksonville State volleyball team came up just short on Friday night as the Gamecocks dropped their first home conference match of the season to Eastern Illinois.
 
The five-set affair saw the visiting Panthers (5-19, 2-7 Ohio Valley Conference) take the opening two sets, before JSU (17-12, 5-4 OVC) won the following two to send the match into a tiebreaker fifth.
 
Four Gamecocks with double-digit kills led by sophomore Mackenzie Rombach's career-high 15, wasn't enough firepower as the Panthers out-hit JSU, .257-to-.153. Junior Hannah Kirk did everything she could on the back row to defend the EIU attack, collecting 22 digs for a team-high. Freshman Sadie Anderson had 16 digs and 10 kills as the lone Gamecock to finish with a double-double.
 
Behind Rombach's impressive night, freshman Kaylee Frear hit .400 with 12 kills, while junior Charis Ludtke pitched in 12 kills as well. Directing the offense was freshman Rachel Perucki who tied her young career mark with 36 assists, her fifth 30-set match of the season.
 
Combined, JSU and EIU slugged it out for 203 total points from 124 kills off 347 attacks. In rare fashion, the Gamecocks lost the blocking battle, 11-7. Frear led the way with five followed by Allyson Zuhlke with four.
 
The largest lead of the opening set was four points, with EIU ahead 13-9. JSU tied the set at 21 and then again at 23, before EIU took the final two point for a momentum-building win. Perhaps deflated from a late game one loss, JSU never got going in the second en route to a 25-12 loss to send the Gamecocks into a 2-0 match deficit.
 
Out of intermission, Jax State responded as Katie Will served up back-to-back aces as JSU pulled out to a 5-0 lead and forced the visitors to call for time. The Panthers later evened the score at 13, and went ahead 20-17, threatening for an unlikely sweep. An 8-2 run to close the game, including a trio of kills by Frear, ensured JSU would play another set.
 
In the fourth, JSU had the Panthers doubled up, 16-8, before EIU made a charge to cut the deficit to two at 19-17. That would be as close as it got, however, as Jax State went on to win 25-20 sending the match to a decisive fifth set.
 
Inefficient hitting returned for the Gamecocks in the crucial fifth, as EIU broke away from a 9-9 tie to take the match, 15-11. JSU falls to 2-5 in five-set matches this season.
 
The Gamecocks will be back on the court at Pete Mathews Coliseum Saturday afternoon with a 2 p.m. matchup against SIU-Edwardsville. Admission is free.