Edwardsville, Ill. – Jacksonville State's volleyball team continued its hot start to the season with a 3-1 road win at Southern Illinois Edwardsville on Sunday afternoon.
 
In their sixth visit to the First Community Center on the campus of SIUE, the Gamecocks (3-0 OVC) picked up their first road win since the Cougars (2-1 OVC) became conference foes in 2011. After sweeping Belmont in both matches last weekend, SIUE hadn't lost a set until the Gamecocks won the first, 25-19.
 
Junior outside Lena Kindermann had a match-high 22 kills behind an efficient .475 attack percentage and two blocks to lead JSU. Meanwhile freshman Courtney Glotzbach had another big match with a new career-best 17 kills on 33 swings and three blocks. Senior Kaylie Milton added a double-double with 10 kills and 10 digs.
 
Senior setter Lexie Libs paced Jax State to a .320 team hitting percentage with 48 assists. Sophomore libero Erin Carmichael had 13 digs for a balanced defensive effort from JSU which saw all 11 Gamecocks record multiple digs.
 
Despite the 3-1 win, JSU trailed for a majority of the day. The opening set was even at 15-15 before a couple of Glotzbach kills led to a short 4-0 run that opened the door for JSU's set one victory. In the second, JSU trailed again most of the way by few points. An acrobatic move from Libs to go over on the second touch for a kill pulled JSU within one at 17-16, but a 3-0 Cougar run from there push SIUE out ahead for good to even the match at 1-1.
 
The Gamecocks trailed 15-13 in the third until Glotzbach and fellow freshman Sadie Brown had consecutive kills to spark a 7-2 JSU run which forced a SIUE timeout. The Cougars would tally after the break to go back ahead late, but JSU fought off two set points after trailing 24-22, and went on to win 26-24 with the final four points of the frame.
 
SIUE responded well after a tough end to the third and again took the early lead in the fourth. This time down 15-13, JSU used a 9-3 stretch to grab a commanding advantage and finished strong with a 25-19 decision to seal the match.
 
The two teams meet again on Monday afternoon at 12 p.m. as part of the OVC's revised back-to-back spring schedule.