RICHMOND, KY – The Jacksonville State volleyball team improved two 13-4 on the season with a 3-0 win on the road against Eastern Kentucky Friday afternoon, their eighth sweep of the year.
JSU moves to the top of the West division in the ASUN at 3-1 overall with their first conference road win of the season.
A strong offensive performance led the Gamecocks in the win, led by
Lena Kindermann with a game-high 17 kills while hitting .538 in the match.
Addie Halverson added 10 kills while
Katie Montgomery and
Zoe Gonzales chipped in nine and eight, respectively.
Lexie Libs totaled 40 assists in the match, averaging 13.3 per set.
Erin Carmichael anchored the defense, tying her season-high with 20 digs.
JSU opened the match on a 5-0 run that included kills from Kindermann and Gonzales. After jumping out to an 8-2 lead, the Colonels cut the deficit to three, 8-5. The Gamecocks went on a 17-6 run to finish the first set with a 25-14 win, capped by a Montgomery kill. Kindermann and Gonzales led the Gamecocks in kills with eight and five, respectively. Jax State totaled 17 kills in the first set, with 14 assists from Libs, hitting .406 overall.
Both sides traded points to begin the second set, 2-2. A 7-2 run propelled the Gamecocks to a 9-4 lead, capped with a service error by EKU. The Colonels kept the Gamecocks within five until back-to-back kills from Gonzales and Halverson pushed the JSU lead so six, 24-18. Halverson's fourth kill of the match closed out the 25-20 win in set two. Kindermann and Montgomery each led the squad with three kills in the set. Libs added 12 more assists.
The Gamecocks fell behind 11-8 to begin the third set. After tying the set 11-11 following an EKU attack error, JSU traded points with the Colonels. Tied 16-16, Jax State used a 5-0 run, that included three kills from Halverson, to lead 21-16. Kindermann held off an EKU comeback, putting the Gamecocks up 23-20 with a kill, forcing a timeout for the home side. Back-to-back attack errors ended the set with a 25-20 win for the Gamecocks, completing the 3-0 sweep. Halverson totaled six kills in the set while Libs added 14 more assists, brining her total to 40 for the match.
JSU hit .369 in the match with 49 kills while EKU hit just .140 with 33 kills.
Up next the Gamecocks continue ASUN play with a trip to Bellarmine Saturday, Oct. 2 in Louisville, KY. First serve is set for 2 p.m. CST. The match will be streamed live on ESPN+ and live stats can be found at JSUgamecocksport.com.
