Box Score USAF ACADEMY, Colo. – The Jacksonville State volleyball team pushed the U.S. Air Force Academy to five sets on the opening night before falling 3-2 (21-25, 19-25, 25-23, 25-23, 10-15).
 
The Gamecocks (0-1) saw seven players make their Jax State volleyball debuts on Friday night inside Clune Arena. It marked the collegiate debuts for freshmen: Kaylee Frear, Rachel Perucki, Maddie Cloutier, Sadie Anderson and Shayla Schmidt.
 
Sophomore Katie Will cracked the starting lineup on opening night after being the most recent addition to the indoor squad. The sophomore from Clearwater, Fla., transferred this offseason to join JSU's beach team. Frear, started her first college match in front of a hometown crowd being from just down the road in Colorado Springs, Colo. Cloutier and sophomore Kim Krutsinger were the other two Colorado-natives who were able to play back at home.
 
Despite the setback, many positives came from the match including the breakout performances of Anderson and Perucki who both posted double-doubles. Anderson had 14 digs and kills, the second most put-aways behind Frear's 18. Rombach and Zuhlke finished with 10 kills each, respectively.

Junior Jennifer Hart led the way with 19 assists, but two other Gamecocks reached double digits as Schmidt had 16, while Perucki ended the night with 15 assists.

Frear made an impressive first impression, leading the Gamecocks with four kills in the first frame. JSU was even at 9-9, before forcing an Air Force timeout with a 13-10 lead. The Falcons responded to reclaim the lead at 17-16, but the score would deadlock again at 21-21. Early hitting jitters plagued Jax State to just a .064 attack percentage in the first as they fell, 21-25.
 
A 6-2 hole to open the second set pu JSU in an early deficit which it fought to erase the remainder of the stanza. The Gamecocks were able to grab a slim 17-16 advantage, but the lead wouldn't stand as Air Force took a 2-0 set lead into intermission.
 
In the third frame, the Gamecocks again played point-for-point with the host Falcons in front of a lively cadet crowd. Rombach and Krutsinger teamed up for a block which evened the score at 11-11. JSU came back from down five late to tie the set at 22. Schmidt posted a crucial block followed by a pair of kills from Anderson as Jax State claimed the third set, 25-23.
 
Rombach blasted an opening kill to put JSU ahead 1-0 to begin the fourth. It was the start of a powerful frame for the Ottawa, Ill., product. She recorded another put-away to put JSU back out front at 14-13, and then a big block made it 22-21 late. Jax State hit .205 on its way to another 25-23 set victory.
 
In the fifth and final frame, Air Force took a commanding 5-2 lead early. However, as the Gamecocks proved all night, they weren't backing down from a fight. JSU pulled within three, 13-10, to force an Air Force timeout before the Falcons took the match with a 15-10 set. 

*I think to have all the newcomers that we did on the floor tonight and to play with Air Force set-for-set, that was a good first performance," said head coach Terry Gamble following the match. 

"We have things to work on, the little things, but I feel we'll get those worked out and be better down the road." 
 
JSU has a quick turnaround as it will be the next team on the floor in the morning facing Grand Canyon University in a 10 a.m. (MT) match to open Saturday's action inside Clune Arena. The Gamecocks then face Montana State later in the day. Both matches will have live stats available at JSUGamecockSports.com.