PHOENIX, Ariz. – Jacksonville State suffered consecutive defeats on the final day of the Grand Canyon Invitational on Saturday inside the GCU Arena.
 
Despite the triple-digit temperatures outside, the Gamecocks went cold in their final day in the Valley of the Sun. JSU fell victim to host Grand Canyon in the opening match of the day, before dropping the final contest of the weekend to Southern Utah.
 
Against GCU, JSU hit just .083 combined with 30 attack errors as GCU consistently took advantage of Gamecock miscues. Jax State led most of the first set, but the home Lopes rallied late to even the game at 23. The Gamecocks managed to fight off two set points before GCU eventually prevailed 30-28. From there, JSU struggled to regain momentum throughout the next two frames falling 25-17 and 25-19.
 
It unfortunately became a similar situation several hours later against SUU as the Gamecocks and Thunderbirds went to extra points in each of the first two sets in the first-ever meeting between the two schools.
 
SUU opened the first with a 6-3 advantage before JSU reeled off five-straight to take the lead. Down the stretch the opening frame featured 14 ties, including the Gamecocks evening the score at 23 after trailing 21-19 late. The teams swapped serves each fighting off set-point after set-point, before the Thunderbirds took two-straight for a 28-26 win.
 
The second played out almost identically with 13 ties of its own. JSU built a 20-16 lead late, before SUU powered through with an 8-1 run to grab a commanding 24-21 advantage. Facing three set-points, JSU rallied to knot things up and once again play past 25. But like the first, it was the Thunderbirds who finally pieced back-to-back points together in a 29-27 set victory.
 
The third and final frame was tight through a 15-15 deadlock, before JSU ran out of gas in a tough 25-20 game handing the match to the members of the Big Sky Conference.
 
Junior Kaylee Frear finished as the only Gamecock with double-digits kills against SUU, finishing with 10. The Colorado Springs, Colo., product also had six blocks continuing a strong defensive effort shown over the weekend. Redshirt-sophomore Addie Halverson recorded nine kills, after posting 10 in the earlier match against GCU, and senior Mackenzie Rombach had her second eight-kill outing of the day finishing Saturday with 16 kills and seven blocks overall.
 
Both Kaylie Milton and Jade Humphrey split time as JSU's libero in both Saturday matches. Milton finished with 23 digs on the day after a team-high 17 versus SUU, while Humphrey collecting 18 between the two matches. Halverson pitched in a career-high 15 digs in Saturday's finale.
 
Redshirt-sophomore Sadie Anderson finished her weekend back in her hometown of Phoenix, Ariz., with 24 kills and 31 digs. She
 
After a long trip in Arizona, the Gamecocks will return home next weekend for the Gamecock Classic hosted in Gadsden, Alabama.