JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville State volleyball team is prepared to host the second of its two home tournaments this weekend, the Gamecock Classic, which will be played off campus in Gadsden, Alabama.
The venue change is a result of JSU's temporary home facility at Kennamer Hall being unavailable this weekend. JSU, along with tournament foes Bradley, Mississippi Valley State and Western Carolina will instead compete at Beck Field House on the campus of Gadsden State Community College. The tournament begins with four matches on Friday, and two more on Saturday.
The tournament gym is located in the College Drive parking lot on the GSCC campus, and is at the far end of the parking lot. Fans may enter through the black double doors to the lower left of the "Beck Field House" signage on the building.
JSU (3-4) will open the weekend at 1 p.m. on Friday against Mississippi Valley State. The Gamecocks hope to bounce back from a tough weekend out in Arizona against a club that Jax State owns a 5-0 all-time record against. The Gamecocks will then return to action Saturday night at 7:30 for the day's finale against Bradley. It marks just the second meeting between the Braves and the Gamecocks on the volleyball hardwood, after JSU won the first meeting, 3-1, at the Butler Invitational in Indianalopis in 2004.
Saturday's action begins with Bradley taking on MVSU at 11 a.m., before JSU wraps up the tournament facing Western Carolina at 2 p.m.
Head coach
Todd Garvey's squad has been balanced through the opening two weeks of the season. Sophomore setter
Lexie Libs has directed most of the offense dishing 243 assists to rank 50th in the nation. She's had a variety of options to find at the pins and up the middle with JSU's top three attackers all within a kill of one another. Redshirt-sophomore
Sadie Anderson leads with 61 kills, followed immediately by newcomers
Lena Kindermann and
Addie Halverson with 60 apiece. Junior
Kaylee Frear and senior
Mackenzie Rombach have done their part too with 56 and 48 put-aways, respectively, while also leading the club with 23 and 22 total blocks.
On defense, JSU's opponents have hit below .200 through the first seven matches of 2018. Sophomores
Kaylie Milton and
Jade Humphrey have shared time as libero, while
Dani Steele and
Ashley Clingan, along with defensive assistance from Libs and Anderson have solidified a solid back row rotation for the Gamecocks. Milton leads the team with 83 digs, but like the balanced offense, five other Gamecocks have registered at least 30 digs.
Live stats will be available for all matches during the 2018 Gamecock Classic with links to each on JSUGamecockSports.com.
