JACKSONVILLE – Jacksonville State started strong and held on late as the Gamecocks swept Tennessee Tech on Sunday night to continue its undefeated start to the season.
Jax State moves to 7-0 after the 25-9, 25-17, 29-27 win over the Golden Eagles (4-3) who entered the night having won their last four matches. In a battle between JSU's top offense and TTU's top defense in the Ohio Valley Conference, the Gamecocks easily had the better night.
Senior
Lexie Libs had 37 assists and paced the Gamecocks to a .319 hitting percentage against a squad that allowed .092 through six matches.
Lena Kindermann's 13 kills led the offense, while
Courtney Glotzbach,
Kaylie Milton,
Sadie Brown and
Katie Montgomery all had at least six kills hiting over .400 each.
The Gamecocks rolled to a 25-9 opening set win behind a stout .500 clip as a team, while the Golden Eagles were held to hit in the negatives. The defense can't be overlooked as JSU allowed just 26 kills on 94 TTU attacks.
Sophomore
Kylee Quigley had a stellar night with a career-best 11 digs to match libero
Erin Carmichael for the team-high along the back row. Brown helped the defense at the net getting in on four of JSU's seven blocks.
JSU was on pace for another blowout frame in the second with a 21-8 advantage, when a couple of Gamecock errors led the way for a 4-0 TTU run that sparked life into the visitors. Tech closed the gap down the stretch, but the Gamecocks took a 2-0 match lead with a 25-17 decision.
In the third, Quigley served JSU out to a 4-0 start to the set. The Golden Eagles kept it close at 12-10, until Glotzbach had consecutives kills to start a 4-0 stretch that ended with a block from Brown and
Addie Halverson. Along with Halverson, the Gamecocks exercised their depth with
Caroline Kasson,
Anna Nelson and
Dani Steele all playing down the stretch during the tightest points of the match.
Tech grabbed its first lead at 22-21 and again at 23-22. After a Skylar Boom block the Golden Eagles sat at set point up 26-25, but a service error on the next point brought JSU back even and the Gamecock bounced back to claim the set, 29-27.
The same two teams will meet on Monday afternoon at 4 p.m. from Pete Mathews Coliseum in a match that will signal the halfway point of the spring season. The contest will stream on ESPN+.
