Box Score JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville State volleyball team brought an end to Eastern Kentucky's four-match winning streak on Friday night with a 3-1 win for its 11th home win of the season.
 
The Gamecocks (21-11, 7-6 Ohio Valley Conference) improved to 11-1 within the friendly confines of Pete Mathews Coliseum, matching the number of home wins from a season ago when JSU posted an 11-6 mark at home. JSU will go for its 12th home win on Saturday, which would match the 2009 NCAA tournament squad that went 12-0 on their home floor. 
 
The win moved JSU to fifth in the league standings with three matches remaining, while the loss dropped EKU to 11-16 overall and 9-4 in league play after the Colonels had turned things around following a 2-12 start in non-conference action.
 
In the opening match of senior weekend, the Gamecocks got plenty of production from their veteran core. Senior Allyson Zuhlke led with 15 kills and pitched in five blocks as JSU won the blocking battle, 13-9. Charis Ludtke added eight kills along with eight digs on the opposite side of the net. Jennifer Hart had a team-high 25 assists, followed by sophomore Rachel Perucki with 19, while Hannah Kirk matched a team-best with 17 digs.
 
Freshman Madison Cooler also recorded 17 digs, setting a new career best in the process. Meanwhile the front line of the Gamecock defense didn't let many balls through as Kim Krutsinger built a wall in the middle with seven blocks, followed by Mackenzie Rombach with six. Zuhlke and sophomore Kaylee Frear each had five rejections, while Frear also collected 11 kills.
 
EKU opened the match with a 10-5 advantage, but JSU began to chip away and eventually used a 5-0 run to reclaim the lead at 19-16. Once JSU reached 20 points, Zuhlke used a trio of late kills to put the set away, 25-20. The Gamecocks had more control in the second as early kills from Frear and Rombach paced JSU to a 9-3 lead to start. The Colonels cut it to 15-12 midway through the frame, but wouldn't come any closer the rest of the way.
 
Following the intermission, JSU struggled early in the third falling behind 10-4. The set evened at 14-all before EKU made another push to a 23-19 lead. The Gamecocks cut the deficit to one late, but couldn't complete the sweep with a 25-22 setback. However head coach Terry Gamble's bunch regrouped in the fourth and when placed in a similar situation in a tight game at the end, JSU reeled off four –straight points on kills by Cooler and Zuhlke and a block from Krutsinger and Zuhlke to take the match with a 25-20 win.
 
JSU will face Morehead State Saturday night at 7 p.m., following the JSU football game across campus at Burgess-Snow Field which kicks off at 1 p.m. It will be the final home match of the year for Jax State as they finish the regular season the following weekend in Nashville, Tenn., before learning their fate for the conference tournament.