EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Junior Lena Kindermann hit .520 with 15 kills and freshman Courtney Glotzbach hit over .600 as the Jacksonville State volleyball team swept Southern Illinois Edwardsville on the road Monday.
 
The Gamecocks (4-0 OVC) remain just one of three teams still undefeated after the first two weekends of Ohio Valley Conference play. JSU joins Morehead State and Austin Peay at the top of the early standings, in critical race where only the top four teams advance to the conference tournament this spring.
 
Kindermann powered JSU to back-to-back wins over SIUE (2-2 OVC), who entered the weekend having won six-straight sets. Her 15 kills on Monday gave her a 5.29 kill per set average against the Cougars through two matches. Behind Kindermann, Glotzbach had 12 kills of her own Monday afternoon behind a .618 hitting clip. The native of New Albany, Indiana, has now posted double-digit kills in each of her first four collegiate matches. Middle blocker Katie Montgomery was solid once again with 10 kills and a team-high four blocks. Freshman Sadie Brown pitched in six kills on 12 swings and redshirt-junior Addie Halverson, who missed last season with injury, successfully put away four of her eight attacks.
 
Senior setter Lexie Libs was responsible for 42 assists, but she was lifted early in the first frame as freshman Macie Garrison made her collegiate debut on what happened to be her birthday. Erin Carmichael had 13 digs to lead defensively, ahead of Libs, Glotzbach and Kaylie Milton with six apiece.
 
Leading 23-19 in the first, JSU was closing in on a comfortable set victory before the Cougars rallied to eventually fight off four set-points and tie it up at 24-24. After the two exchanged another round of points, Glotzbach had consecutive kills to hand JSU the 27-25 win.
 
The momentum carried over into the second as JSU raced out to an 18-9 lead before taking a 2-0 match lead with a 25-13 decision. In the third, the Gamecocks again started strong with an 11-3 advantage as head coach Todd Garvey used the opportunity to test out his team's depth by iinserting freshmen Garrison and Caroline Kasson for their collegiate debuts and sophomore Anna Nelson for her first action of the season. SIUE would close the gap, but the Gamecocks held on for the 25-22 win to complete the second sweep of the season.
 
JSU will return to the road next weekend for a shorter travel trip to Nashville to face Tennessee State on Sunday and Monday, before returning back to Pete Mathews Coliseum at the end of February.