JACKSONVILLE – With Ohio Valley Conference tournament seeding on the line, the Jacksonville State volleyball team cruised by Southeast Missouri State 3-0 on Saturday in the regular-season finale at Kennamer Hall.
 
The win was the second-straight sweep for JSU (17-13, 9-7 OVC), and its sixth win in the last seven matches. It seals JSU's second consecutive season with a winning record in league play for the first time since the 2009-2010 seasons. It also breaks a tie in the league standings with SEMO which falls to 16-13 overall and 8-8 in OVC action.
 
Following a special pregame ceremony that honored JSU's three seniors, the Gamecocks quickly went to work on putting away the Redhawks in straight sets. Senior Mackenzie Rombach sparked the home team early with five kills in the opening frame as JSU pulled away for a 25-15 win. The Ottawa, Ill., native finished the day with seven kills to run her career tally to 992 in her final home game for the Red and White.
 
While seniors Rombach, Ashley Clingan and Katie Will fueled the 10th home win of the season, the Gamecocks had plenty of help from the youth in their lineup. Freshmen Addie Halverson and Lena Kindermann led offensively with nine kills apiece, while sophomore Kaylie Milton added seven. Junior Kaylee Frear boasted a .571 attack percentage with eight kills on just 14 swings, while setter Lexie Libs finished with a .667 clip with four kills on six dump attempts.
 
It was 16-15 JSU in the second set before back-to-back kills from Halverson began a 9-1 run for Jax State to finish off the second stanza.
 
Defensively, Milton had 10 digs as the only Gamecock with double-digits as SEMO was held to just 30 kills. Clingan upped five of JSU's 39 total digs, as the senior from Jacksonville, Ala., moves closer to 500 career digs. Libero Dani Steele collected eight digs, and matched Libs with a team-high three aces as the Gamecocks forced nine reception errors from the visitors. Will was another part of JSU's serving success with two aces of her own to go along with two digs as the Gamecocks closed out their season inside Kennamer Hall the same way they opened it in August, with a satisfying 3-0 sweep.
 
Jax State now awaits the conclusion of Saturday's OVC play to determine its official seed and matchup for the next week's conference tournament.