MARTIN, Tenn. – A trio of young Gamecocks led by Kaylie Milton's career-high 19 kills helped power the Jacksonville State volleyball team to its third-straight Ohio Valley Conference victory on Friday night at UT Martin.
 
In the once-a-year meeting between JSU (10-9, 3-3 OVC) and UTM (8-11, 2-4 OVC), the Gamecocks earned their first win since 2014 inside Skyhawk Fieldhouse with Friday's 3-1 victory.
 
Milton, a sophomore who's spent time at libero this season, joined freshmen Addie Halverson (17 kills) and Lena Kindermann (13 kills) to all hit above .300 and finish with double-digit kills. Milton and Halverson also posted double-doubles with 10 digs apiece, behind Dani Steele's team-high 15.
 
Sophomore Lexie Libs finished with 48 assists as the Gamecocks out-hit UTM .277 to .254. The Jax State defense combined for nine blocks, led by Kaylee Frear's five and Mackenzie Rombach's four. Rombach added nine kills offensively just shy of the fourth Gamecock in double figures.
 
JSU grabbed its largest lead of the opening frame at 15-11, but a 4-0 run by the Skyhawks quickly evened things up. Still all tied up at 18-18, Milton and Frear came through for a couple of kills forcing a UTM timeout. Anna Bryant would extend the margin to 21-18 wuth an ace out of the time as Jax State continued on for the 25-21 win.
 
JSU's early advantage in the second at 7-3 was also quickly erase when UTM pieced together a 5-0 run to regain the lead. The two sides battled back-and-forth all the way through to a 20-all tie, before UTM pulled away late to take the set in extras, 26-24.
 
The Gamecocks bounced back with a powerful third frame led by Kindermann who hit .889 in the set with eight kills on nine swings. JSU hit .400 as a team in the third and surged away from a 9-9 tie to win 25-17 and take a two sets to one advantage. In the fourth, JSU continued to slowly build its lead looking to put the match away. Anna Bryant's third service ace of the night pushed the lead to 13-9 midway through the stanza. UTM rallied late fight off consecutive match points to knot the score at 24-24. A Skyhawk net error put the Gamecocks back on the brink where Halverson concluded the match with her 17th putaway pushing the ball to the back corner where UTM defenders let it fall for the winning score.
 
UTM's Hannah Phillips led the home squad with 15 kills, while Brooke Gyori tallied a team-high 12 digs.
 
JSU will have an entire week before its next match on Oct. 12 back home against Eastern Illinois.