JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville State volleyball team split back-to-back five-set matches on Saturday in the final day of the Mike Douglas State Farm Gamecock Classic.
 
JSU (9-8) rallied from a 2-1 match deficit against Evansville to force a decisive fifth set, which ultimately needed extra points to decide a winner. JSU would survive match point to come back for the 18-16 victory. In ironically similar fashion, JSU dropped the day's finale to Louisiana-Monroe in five sets. Unfortunately it was the Gamecocks on the wring end of the 18-16 final the second time around.
 
Jax State hit .385 taking the opening set against Evansville, 25-20. The Aces responded claimed the following two sets, 25-20 and 25-19, to put JSU in a hole. IN a tightly contested fourth, the Gamecocks used a brief 4-0 run to take a 20-14 lead after kills from Charis Ludtke and Kaylee Frear. The separation was enough for JSU to hold on to win 25-23.
 
JSU held a 13-9 advantage in the fifth, but a final surge from Evansville faced the Gamecocks against match point trailing 15-14 and again at 16-15. A kill by Sadie Anderson tied the frame, while Mackenzie Rombach's put-away put JSU ahead for good. An attack error from the Aces finished the match.
 
Allyson Zuhlke had 18 kills to lead the offense against Evansville, joined in double figure by Ludtke (15) and Frear (11). Four Gamecocks reached double-digits in digs, including sophomore Ashley Clingan who returned to the lineup this weekend after missing time with injury. Junior Hannah Kirk led the way with 23 and in the process surpassed 1,000 digs for her career, becoming just the 11th Gamecock in program history to eclipse that mark.
 
In the nightcap, JSU and ULM went point-for-point over five sets for nearly three hours.
 
In the first, JSU led by as many as seven before the Warhawks trimmed the margin back down to two at 24-22, before Frear's kill ended the opening set. In a game that requires a two-point lead to win, the second set looked like it could go much further than the 26-24 end result. 46 serves of the fifty total for the set took place with the score tied or a one-point difference. ULM tied its highest lead of the frame on the wining kill by Kaitlin Shearer.
 
JSU took the third 25-21, but ULM forced a fifth with a 25-23 decision in the fourth. JSU rallied from a 7-1 deficit in the fifth to take the lead in what looked like a chance to steal a victory, before ULM knotted things up at 14. Facing match point for the fourth time on the day, the Gamecocks finally gave way when Zuhlke's touch-attack was unable to clear the net.
 
JSU wraps up the weekend with a 2-2 mark, bringing the home-tournament record to 6-2 over the past two weekend. Kirk and Rombach made were selected to the All-Tournament team joining Kennesaw State's Liesl Engelbrecht and Anaiah Boyer (MVP), along with selections from Nicholls State, ULM and Evansville.
 
JSU travels to Alcorn State on Tuesday for one final match before diving into Ohio Valley Conference play next weekend as the Gamecocks host Morehead State and Eastern Kentucky.
 
Mike Douglas State Farm Classic All-Tournament Team
Anaiah Boyer, KSU (MVP)
Liesl Engelbrecht, KSU
Mackenzie Rombach, JSU
Hannah Kirk, JSU
Kacey LeBlanc, ULM
Cathy Schreiber, UE
Steohanie Tobison, Nich