JACKSONVILLE – As the Jacksonville State volleyball team prepares to host its second home tournament in as many weeks, Head coach Terry Gamble hopes his Gamecocks can sustain the early success they've experienced as home thus far this season.
 
After a perfect 4-0 mark in last weekend's tournament, JSU moved to 5-0 on the season inside Pete Mathews Coliseum. In Gamble's third year at the helm, the Gamecocks are 17-7 at home and have yet to suffer a non-conference loss on their home court. Preserving that mark will prove challenging this weekend as JSU welcomes Nicholls State, Evansville, UL-Monroe and Kennesaw State, 19-win team a season ago, to The Pete on Friday and Saturday.
 
JSU (7-6) understands the task ahead, but a plethora of young players have shown so far this season that they're capable of competing with anyone. Four juniors, minus one lost to injury, lead a Gamecock squad which features zero seniors and 13 underclassmen.
 
Fresh off of earning the Ohio Valley Conference Offensive Player of the Week, junior Allyson Zuhlke leads the team with 170 kills and a .365 hitting percentage to begin the year. She leads an offensive attack which ranks first in the OVC with 568 kills and a .224 hitting mark.
 
Across the net, sophomore Mackenzie Rombach's 55 total blocks is the high tally on a defense which currently leads the nation in Division I team blocks. JSU has successfully rejected 132.5 opposing attacks, 10.5 more than second-place Arkansas-Little Rock. Rombach and Zuhlke, along with junior Charis Ludtke and freshmen Kaylee Frear, Sadie Anderson and Shayla Schmidt have each recorded at least 19 blocks.
 
A total of nine newcomers have seen action in the early stages of the season for JSU, including back row players J'Nae Fraser, Maddie Cloutier, Abby Farr and Katie Will who have combined for 20-percent of the Gamecocks' digs. Junior Hannah Kirk, MVP of last weekend's tournament, leads Jax State with 169 digs and is poised this weekend to surpass 1,000 career digs.
 
The Gamecocks open the weekend Friday afternoon with a 2 p.m. match against Kennesaw State, followed by a 7 p.m. matchup against Nicholls State. Both matches will be streamed on the OVC Digital Network for fans who are unable to make it to Pete Mathews Coliseum. On Saturday, JSU takes on Evansville at 11:30 a.m., and then returns that evening to battle UL Monroe in the tournament finale at 7 p.m. Admission is free to all matches.