JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville State volleyball team heads to Nashville, Tenn., for a double-dip with the conference's Music City members.
The Gamecocks (14-12, 6-6 Ohio Valley Conference) enter the next-to-last weekend of the regular season in a three-way tie for fifth in the conference standings. JSU will open the weekend at Belmont on Friday night, before facing Tennessee State on Saturday afternoon.
The Bruins got off to a slow start to the season, but swept last weekend to improve to 4-8 in OVC play. Belmont has won three of its last four at home inside the Curb Event Center, and will look to even the season series after JSU claimed a 3-1 victory in Jacksonville in late September.
On Saturday, the Gamecocks meet TSU (8-15, 6-6), one of the other two teams that share an identical league record, along with Southeast Missouri. The Lady Tigers defeated JSU on Sept. 28, dropping the Gamecocks to 0-3 in the league. Since that match, JSU is 7-3 overall, and 6-3 in OVC action.
The Gamecocks possess one of the most balanced offenses around with six individuals with 140 or more kills, including three with more than 200, led by freshman
Lena Kindermann's 267. Junior
Kaylee Frear has 245, while redshirt-freshman
Addie Halverson has amassed 221 in her first season. Distributing the ball has been sophomore
Lexie Libs, whose 1,050 assists ranks among the top 10 in the nation. Senior
Mackenzie Rombach's 195 kills this season runs her career total to 966 with four regular-season matches remaining.
The Ottawa, Ill., native is also nearing the school's Division I blocking record with 75 this season. Frear leads the Gamecocks with 92 blocks on the year, while Kindermann (45) and Libs (40) have also been a defensive threat at the net. Along the back row, sophomore
Kaylie Milton continues to the lead the way with 252 digs, followed by Libs with 239 and
Jade Humphrey at 193. Sophomore
Dani Steele, who's become a mainstay in the libero jersey, has collected 187 digs, ahead of Halverson (159) and
Ashley Clingan with 148.
Both matches this weekend will feature live stats and video stream available at JSUGamecockSports.com.
