CLARKSVILLE, Tenn.  – Jacksonville State took down Southern Illinois-Edwardsville in the opening round of the 2018 Ohio Valley Conference volleyball championship on Thursday afternoon for the program's first postseason win since 2009.
 
JSU (18-13) ended its six-match losing skid in the OVC tournament in strong fashion with its second sweep of the season over the fifth-seeded SIUE Cougars (9-20). JSU entered 2018 just 1-7 all-time against the OVC foes from Edwardsville, Illinois. The last time the Gamecocks celebrated in the OVC tournament was following the championship match in 2009, after JSU defeated Murray State 3-1 for its last OVC crown.
 
Thursday's final box score epitomized what the Gamecocks' mentality has been all season long with everyone sharing the load. Sophomore Kaylie Milton had a team-high 14 kills, while sophomore Sadie Anderson came off the bench for just two sets of action to finish at a .700 clip with seven kills on 10 swings without any errors.
 
Jax State started fast in the opening set gaining a 9-3 advantage following senior Mackenzie Rombach's first kill of the evening. The first-team All-OVC selection finished the night hitting .455 with six kills, to pull within two of 1,000 for her career. The lead remained mostly unchanged as Addie Halverson's ace near the end of the frame made it 22-16. Milton's six kill of the opening set gave JSU the 25-19 win and a 1-0 match lead.
 
SIUE used a 3-0 run to pull away from a 7-7 tie in the second, and later led 16-12 as the Gamecocks called for timeout. Out of the break, JSU began to chip away at the deficit following the break, eventually evening the score at 21-21 on one of Jade Humphrey's four aces on the night. A kill by freshman Lena Kindermann handed JSU its first lead since it was 4-3 back at the beginning of the stanza. The putaway sparked a 4-0 finish by the Gamecocks who stole the second, 25-22. Kindermann finished with eight kills, and matched All-OVC honoree Kaylee Frear with four total blocks.
 
The Cougars again led most of the third set after jumping out to a 7-3 lead. Trailing 18-16, JSU pieced together a 4-0 run to to claim its first lead of the frame and force a SIUE timeout. The Cougars pulled within one at 21-20 and 22-21, but were denied a chance to knot things back up as JSU held on for the 25-22 win to sweep the match.
 
Nine of the 10 Gamecocks that saw the floor all had at least one dig, but none with more than eight, which sophomore libero Dani Steele recorded. The back row led by Steele, Ashley Clingan and company limited SIUE to just a .156 attack percentage, and forced the OVC Freshman of the Year in Hope Everett to hit .000 with just three kills and three errors.
 
JSU advanced to play top-seeded and tournament host, Austin Peay, at 5 p.m. on Friday. The match will be stream on ESPN+ with live stats available at JSUGamecockSports.com.