JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville State volleyball came away with a thrilling victory over Morehead State on Saturday, surviving match-point in the fifth set to rally for the 3-2 triumph in extras.
 
Celebrating their annual "Pink-Out" match, the Gamecocks called timeout down 14-13 in the fifth facing a season sweep from the Eagle. Senior Mackenzie Rombach kept JSU alive with her eighth kill pf the day to even the frame at 14-14. An MSU hitting error brought the Kennamer Hall crowd to its feet, before Addie Halverson's match-ending kill sent them over the edge.
 
The Gamecocks (14-12, 6-6 Ohio Valley Conference) wrapped up an undefeated week with its third-straight win, while MSU (17-8, 8-4) saw its chances of battling for a regular-season conference title suffer a series blow.
 
Rombach was joined by junior Kaylee Frear with eight big kills apiece from the Gamecock middles, while Halverson led the way with 13 kills, followed by Lena Kindermann with 12. Sophomore Lexie Libs added three dump kills, but paced the offense with her 43 assists.
 
A lot of credit goes to JSU's back row defenders who held on of the better offensive attacks in the OVC in check, and provided the offense with continuous chances. Sophomore libero Dani Steele led a trio of Gamecocks with double-digit digs with 14, followed by Libs with 12 and Ashley Clingan at 11. Not all of MSU's 147 total attacks made it past the net as the Gamecocks registered 10 blocks. Frear tallied a team-high seven blocks, assisting on six rejections, while Rombach and Sadie Anderson added three blocks each.
 
A 6-0 and 9-1 run early in the first gave the Eagles a 17-7 advantage to claim the early momentum. The Gamecocks settled in and found their rhythm late, pulling with 22-18, but it wasn't enough as MSU held on to strike first with a 25-21 win.
 
The Eagles again started fast in the third with 10-4 and 14-8 leads, before JSU called a timeout to regroup. Back-to-back putaways from Frear out of the break sparked a 5-0 run for JSU to pull within one. The Gamecocks eventually evened the frame at 16-16, and were still knotted at 21-21 when JSU took four of the next five points to even the match a 1-1.
 
Jax State struggled to get things going again in the third, down 9-7 early. A back-and-forth battle saw JSU with a 17-16 advantage before a 5-0 Gamecock run broke open the third stanza. A service ace from Jade Humphrey sealed the set at 25-18. MSU, who had a share of the conference lead just over a week ago, responded in the fourth with its back against the wall hitting .591 to JSU's 179 en route to a 25-13 blowout to force a decisive fifth set.
 
Trying to shake its fifth-set troubles this season, JSU trailed once again at the change over, 8-6. MSU extended its lead to 11-8 following a kill from Olivia Lohmeier who finished with a match-high 16 kills. A couple of MSU errors evened the game at 12-all, but the Eagles would bounce back to grab a 14-13 lead forcing the timeout from JSU that would lead to the remarkable rally originating from Rombach's ensuing kill.
 
With two weekends remaining in the season, the Gamecocks move into a tie for fifth place with Tennessee State and Southeast Missouri. JSU will meet TSU next weekend in Nashville, along with Belmont, and will host SEMO in the only meeting between the two school's this season on Nov. 10 in the season finale.