Jax State sweeps EKU; stays in first place tie for OVC

Monday, March 15

JACKSONVILLE

4 p.m.

Jacksonville State University

12-0,12-0OVC

Eastern Kentucky

2-10,2-10OVC

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Eastern Ky.	18	14	23	0
Jacksonville St.	25	25	25	3

3/15/2021 8:00:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

JACKSONVILLE – Senior Kaylie Milton and junior Lena Kindermann each had 13 kills as the Jacksonville State volleyball team dropped Eastern Kentucky in straight sets to move to 12-0 on the season.

With two regular-season weekends remaining, JSU will try to run the table in its final act as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference, and to ensure another title, a perfect season may be required. The Gamecocks remain tied atop the league standings with Morehead State at 12-0 through the opening six weeks of play. After JSU hosts UT Martin and the Eagles take on EKU next weekend, the top two teams in the OVC will clash in Morehead, Kentucky, in the final weekend of the season.

On Monday, JSU hit .330 as a club on 100 attacks to top the Colonels 25-18, 25-14, 25-23. Behind Milton and Kindermann, junior Katie Montgomery hit .533 with eight kills while Addie Halverson posted a season-high six putaways on 13 swings. Senior Lexie Libs dished 21 assists through the first two sets, before freshman Macie Garrison took command of the offense for the third and final frame. Garrison matched a career-best with 15 assists, which she also did during a single set at Tennessee State on Feb. 22.

JSU leaned on its defense throughout the match as EKU had much more success on the second-straight day facing the Gamecocks. The Gamecocks registered nine blocks as a team, but Kindermann was a part of a career-best seven in a dominating performance at the net. Montgomery took part in four blocks, while freshman Sadie Brown had a trio of stops.

Behind the front line, sophomore libero Erin Carmichael led with 13 digs. Milton upped 11 attacks as part of her third double-double of the season, while Kylee Quigley had five on a day JSU forced 19 hitting errors and allowed just 31 kills for the opposition.

The Gamecocks cranked it up offensively each set with 13 kills and .242 hitting mark in the first, followed by 14 kills and .375 in the second, and then a strong 18-kill frame to close the match in three.

Milton went to work early with a trio of kills in the opening moments as JSU raced out to a 7-1 lead. JSU led 20-14 later in the set when EKU cut the deficit in half with a 3-0 run, but back-to-back kills again from the Fullerton, California, native, put the Gamecocks back in command. A block from Brown and Kindermann gave JSU the 25-18 win in the first.

In the second, EKU hung tough through the first part with an 8-7 lead, but the Gamecocks used a 4-0 run to take the lead and slowly pull away from that point. An 8-1 stretch that featured two aces from Montgomery handed JSU a 10-point advantage on its way to a 25-14 victory.

Jax State closed out its eighth sweep of the season in set three, 25-23, holding off a late surge from EKU. The Colonels led 5-2 early as JSU transitioned from Libs to Garrison, but the Gamecocks were back on top 15-11 at the media break. JSU closed in on the match with a 23-19 lead after consecutive kills by Halverson, but the Colonels rallied late before Kindermann's final kill sealed the match.

JSU hosts UT Martin next weekend in the final regular-season matches at Pete Mathews Coliseum. The defending conference champs, going back to the fall of 2019, could potentially host the four-team OVC tournament in early April if the Gamecocks repeat as league champions.