Box Score LYNCHBURG, VA. – A phenomenal defensive outing by Jacksonville State and a milestone night for fifth-year middle blocker Katie Montgomery highlighted Saturday night's victory in a five-set marathon at Liberty.
 
Despite a rare rough night by the JSU offense, in which they hit just .146 as a team, their defense shined by forcing 27 attack errors and tallying nine blocks on the night.
 
Additionally, Southern Utah transfer Katie Montgomery picked up two huge accolades in the win. Montgomery's four kill, three service ace, two dig, and two block outing resulted in her reaching 500 kills at Jacksonville State and 300 blocks in her career (between both SUU and JSU).
 
"I thought we played a great defensive match tonight," Jacksonville State head coach Todd Garvey said. "We played really well the first two sets and then were off offensively in the third and fourth sets. Hats off to Liberty though for playing a great match."
 
The Gamecocks used a pair of big scoring runs in the first set to take an early lead. 4-0 and 3-0 scoring runs down the stretch forced Liberty to burn both of their timeouts. Four kills from Courtney Glotzbach and Lena Kindermann, paired with two big blocks from both Kindermann and Zoe Gonzales, gave JSU a 25-18 victory in the opening set.
 
The second set was tight throughout. The two teams traded blows before a 7-0 run by the Flames gave them a 17-10 lead midway through the interval. Jacksonville State ensured that it was a short-lived lead, however, by going on an 8-1 run to tie it up. Garvey's squad used a 15-6 scoring run to close out the second by a score of 25-23.
 
Set no. 3 was not as friendly to the visitors from Calhoun County. The Flames raced out to a 6-1 lead, firing up a raucous crowd at Liberty Arena. Though JSU tried to claw back, they could not overcome the slow start and fell 25-18.
 
Liberty claimed a big lead to start the fourth as well. The Flames jumped out in front 7-0 and led by as many as nine. Although the Gamecocks worked it as close as five, a poor hitting percentage in the interval led to a 25-17 win for the home squad to force a decisive fifth set.
 
Liberty Arena was rocking in the fifth set, but so was the JSU offense. After dismal hitting performances in the third and fourth sets, Garvey's squad hit .524 in the fifth set. Jacksonville State raced out to an 8-4 lead before the court-swap and withstood a late push from the Flames to pull away in a 15-10 match-clinching win.
 
"After the fourth set, we made a few adjustments and I'm really proud of our team for how we responded in that fifth set. We put the third and fourth sets behind us and rose to the occasion. That's a sign of a veteran team; to go from hitting close to .000 in the third and fourth sets to hitting .500 in the fifth was an awesome sight."
 
Fifth-year outside hitter Lena Kindermann finished with a match-high 16 kills in Saturday's win in Old Dominion. She added five blocks in a great performance as well. Redshirt sophomore Courtney Glotzbach had 14 kills and eight digs while graduate transfer Sophie Riemersma ended up with 12 kills.
 
Graduate transfer Claire Ochs had 50 assists on the night, just short of reaching her season-high of 51 set at Auburn. Senior Zoe Gonzales had six kills and six blocks in Lynchburg, and senior Erin Carmichael tied a season-high of 21 digs.
 
JSU returns to Pete Mathews Coliseum on Friday to play host to ASUN rival Kennesaw State. Friday's showdown will start at 6 p.m. in Jacksonville. The Gamecocks will travel to Cobb County, Ga., for the return match at Kennesaw State University next Sunday.