JACKSONVILLE, Fl. – The Jacksonville State University volleyball team defeated the Jacksonville Dolphins 3-0, in Swisher Gymnasium Friday evening for the seventh consecutive win of the season.

JSU improved to 18-4 on the season and remains in first place of the ASUN West division with an 8-1 mark in conference play. Tonight's win marked the 13^th sweep of the season, tying for the most since 2019.  

"I thought tonight we showed a lot of mental toughness to play in that environment and not get rattled at all, block out the crowd and play our game, stay focused the whole time," said Head Coach Todd Garvey "I thought that showed a lot of maturity and mental toughness, which is awesome to see."

A balanced offensive attack led the Gamecocks as the side hit .329 as a team, the 12^th time this season hitting over .300. Senior Katie Montgomery led JSU with 11 kills while fellow seniors Lena Kindermann and Addie Halverson added nine each. Senior Lexie Libs recorded 32 assists, averaging 10.6 per set.

"I think Lexie made really good decisions on who to set to in certain rotations. We had a couple mismatches we could go after in each rotation that we were in, and she recognized those and went to the right people at the right times. I thought our hitters did a great job of executing, seeing what was available and hitting the right shot," added Garvey. "Serve receive was fantastic again today too and you can't hit a good percentage without passing good, so I thought all three of those were great tonight."

JSU opened the match on a 6-2 run, capped with an ace from Erin Carmichael. Jacksonville trimmed the lead to tow, 12-10, before the Gamecocks used a 6-1 run to lead 18-11 following a kill from Montgomery. Back-to-back kills from Halverson pushed the lead to nine, 23-14. Another kill from Halverson gave the Gamecocks set point before a Dolphin attack error ended the set in a 25-15 win for JSU.

The Gamecocks claimed a 7-3 lead to begin the second set following consecutive errors from the Dolphins. An ace from the home side cut the lead to two, 7-5. JSU responded with a dominant 7-0 run that included two service aces from Kylee Quigley and two kills from Halverson, to lead 14-5. With the lead trimmed to five after a 8-4 Jacksonville run, JSU pushed the lead to 10, 23-13, with a 5-0 run that included two kills from Quigley.

Unlike the first two sets, Jacksonville contained the Gamecocks early, 7-6. Three consecutive blocks gave JSU a 10-8 lead before a 6-2 tun, capped with a Carmichael gave the Gamecocks a 16-11 lead. Kindermann pushed the Gamecocks to set point, 24-15, following a kill and Halverson secured the set win with a kill, 25-16.
 
Offensively the Gamecocks succeeded, hitting over .300 for the 12^th time this season. In addition, the squad recorded seven service aces and seven total blocks. Quigley led the Gamecocks with four aces while Gonzales had five total blocks.

"[Serving] was big. It's what we talked about before the game from a scouting standpoint, we thought the biggest key to the game tonight was our serving," said Garvey. "We felt like we could find some people to go after and pick on a little bit. I thought we did a great job of hitting our zones and getting them out of system."
 
The Gamecocks return to action tomorrow, Saturday, Oct. 23 at 5 p.m. CST against Liberty in game two of the ASUN Crossover event.
 
Stay up to date with the Gamecocks at JSUgamecocksports.com and follow the team on social media @JSUGamecocksVB.