Friday, October 7
JACKSONVILLE
6 P.M.
Jacksonville State University
vs
Kennesaw State
Volleyball Kicks Off KSU Series at Home Friday
10/6/2022 9:13:00 AM | Volleyball
JACKSONVILLE – Jacksonville State volleyball (16-1, 4-0) will play a very important ASUN Conference series against Kennesaw State (10-4, 3-1) this weekend. The Gamecocks will play host to the Owls at 6 p.m. Friday at Pete Mathews Coliseum before making the trip to Cobb County, Ga., for the return match at noon CT Sunday.
"It's great to get back home to the Pete, and home in front of our fans," Jacksonville State head coach Todd Garvey said. "Those road trips are definitely long and exhausting, and we played a really tough match against Liberty on Saturday night."
JSU rolled to a pair of league victories on the road last weekend. The veteran squad swept Queens (N.C.) on Friday night in Charlotte before dousing the Lady Flames in a five-set thriller on Saturday evening. Those two victories, coupled with an upset or two in ASUN play, have the Gamecocks standing as the last unbeaten team in conference matchups. However, to keep that mark perfect, they must defeat a Kennesaw State program arguably fielding one of their best teams in school history.
"(Liberty) had a really strong team," Garvey said. "I thought we played really good volleyball in the first two sets, and then didn't play like ourselves in the third and fourth, but you've got to give Liberty a lot of credit. But I think it says a lot about our team that we were able to regroup and respond in that fifth set, hit over .500, and play our best when we needed to."
Graduate transfer Sophie Riemersma, fifth-year outside hitter Lena Kindermann, and redshirt sophomore Courtney Glotzbach were JSU's most productive attackers in those showdowns up the east coast. Riemersma, a native of Holland, Mich., had a team-high 22 kills and hit .306 over the weekend. Kindermann and Glotzbach each had 20 kills (3.14 per set) in the wins over the Royals and Lady Flames. Additionally, setter Claire Ochs had 88 assists (11.00 per set) on the weekend, turning in one of the most impressive outputs in the entire conference.
Although Jacksonville State's offense found a way to churn out a pair of triumphs, it was the stingy Gamecock defense that shined in North Carolina and Virginia. Queens and Liberty hit a combined .109 on the weekend against Jax State, and numerous JSU defenders had outings to remember. Senior libero Erin Carmichael finished with 41 digs (5.13 per set), and classmate Zoe Gonzales led the way with nine blocks (1.13 per set) on the road. Kindermann and fifth-year middle blocker Katie Montgomery, who tallied her 500th kill as a Gamecock and her 300th career block on Saturday, had seven blocks each.
After four strong showings to begin league play, several Gamecock student-athletes are towards the top of the ASUN and NCAA rankings in certain statistics. Montgomery leads the conference and is 11th in the nation in hitting percentage (.424). Ochs is tops in the league in assists (651) and assists per set (10.85), ranking 13th in those respective categories nationally. Senior Kylee Quigley is second in the ASUN in aces (30) and aces per set (0.53), marks that sit 21st and 26th in all of Division I. Kindermann is inside the Top-10 of nearly every offensive statistic for the conference at the moment, as she is second in kills (216) and points (236), fourth in kills per set (3.49), sixth in points per set (3.81), and eighth in hitting percentage (.326). Also, Gonzales' defensive efforts last weekend now have her sixth in blocks per set (1.05).
Jacksonville State's team statistics are among the best in Division I as well. JSU is one of just two teams in the nation to rank in the Top-11 in Hitting Percentage (.299, 9th) and Opponent Hitting Percentage (.152, 11th). The Gamecocks lead the league in assists (785) and assists per set (12.66) and are currently 25th and 31st in the nation in those categories respectively. Jax State's marks in kills (848) and kills per set (13.68) are also tops in the ASUN and 27th and 29th in Division I.
The Gamecocks, who were listed as the no. 47 team in this week's NCAA Women's Volleyball RPI Rankings, will meet their second-toughest opponent of the season this weekend according to those same standings. Aside from undefeated Auburn (no. 38), who beat Jacksonville State in a five-set barnburner on Sept. 17, Kennesaw State (no. 61) is expected to be the biggest test JSU will face in 2022.
"Kennesaw is a very, very good team," Garvey said. "They were good last year and really only lost one player that was a major piece of the team. I feel like they're better than they were last season, and that's saying a lot because they were good last year. We know we're going to have our work cut out for us. They're a team that's going to come in and fight."
The Owls, led by tenth-year head coach Keith Schunzel, already have double-digit wins on the year. Those victories came despite a brutal non-conference slate in which they faced national powers Houston, Mississippi State, and Wake Forest. KSU is 3-1 in ASUN matches this season, with their lone loss coming Friday at Liberty in a mistake-filled contest. Kennesaw State's most dangerous weapons are junior Claire Parsons- who is third in the league in hitting percentage and fourth in blocks per set- and senior Dani Ballou, who ranks eighth in kills per set and seventh in points per set. Furthermore, setter McKinley Ferguson is fourth in the ASUN in assists per set and fourth in services aces per set.
"We're just looking forward to it. I think it's going to be two of the biggest tests we've had, playing them in back-to-back matchups," Garvey said. "Last season we went 2-0 against them, but both games went five, so I wouldn't expect anything different. I think it's going to be a war."
Those unable to attend Friday's showdown at the Pete or Sunday's match at the KSU Convocation Center can watch both on ESPN+. Additionally, score updates will be posted on JSU Volleyball's Twitter account (@JSUGamecockVB). Live stats and post-game coverage will be provided at JSUGamecockSports.com.
"We definitely have had some great crowds this year, and we're hoping to get a big crowd out this weekend," Garvey said. "Playing a rival, and somebody that's one of the best teams in the conference, one of the best teams in the country, I think it's going to be an exciting weekend, so we hope the crowd gets out and supports us."
To stay up to date with the Gamecocks, be sure to follow their Facebook (Jacksonville State Volleyball), Twitter, and Instagram (@JSUGamecockVB) accounts.
"It's great to get back home to the Pete, and home in front of our fans," Jacksonville State head coach Todd Garvey said. "Those road trips are definitely long and exhausting, and we played a really tough match against Liberty on Saturday night."
JSU rolled to a pair of league victories on the road last weekend. The veteran squad swept Queens (N.C.) on Friday night in Charlotte before dousing the Lady Flames in a five-set thriller on Saturday evening. Those two victories, coupled with an upset or two in ASUN play, have the Gamecocks standing as the last unbeaten team in conference matchups. However, to keep that mark perfect, they must defeat a Kennesaw State program arguably fielding one of their best teams in school history.
"(Liberty) had a really strong team," Garvey said. "I thought we played really good volleyball in the first two sets, and then didn't play like ourselves in the third and fourth, but you've got to give Liberty a lot of credit. But I think it says a lot about our team that we were able to regroup and respond in that fifth set, hit over .500, and play our best when we needed to."
Graduate transfer Sophie Riemersma, fifth-year outside hitter Lena Kindermann, and redshirt sophomore Courtney Glotzbach were JSU's most productive attackers in those showdowns up the east coast. Riemersma, a native of Holland, Mich., had a team-high 22 kills and hit .306 over the weekend. Kindermann and Glotzbach each had 20 kills (3.14 per set) in the wins over the Royals and Lady Flames. Additionally, setter Claire Ochs had 88 assists (11.00 per set) on the weekend, turning in one of the most impressive outputs in the entire conference.
Although Jacksonville State's offense found a way to churn out a pair of triumphs, it was the stingy Gamecock defense that shined in North Carolina and Virginia. Queens and Liberty hit a combined .109 on the weekend against Jax State, and numerous JSU defenders had outings to remember. Senior libero Erin Carmichael finished with 41 digs (5.13 per set), and classmate Zoe Gonzales led the way with nine blocks (1.13 per set) on the road. Kindermann and fifth-year middle blocker Katie Montgomery, who tallied her 500th kill as a Gamecock and her 300th career block on Saturday, had seven blocks each.
After four strong showings to begin league play, several Gamecock student-athletes are towards the top of the ASUN and NCAA rankings in certain statistics. Montgomery leads the conference and is 11th in the nation in hitting percentage (.424). Ochs is tops in the league in assists (651) and assists per set (10.85), ranking 13th in those respective categories nationally. Senior Kylee Quigley is second in the ASUN in aces (30) and aces per set (0.53), marks that sit 21st and 26th in all of Division I. Kindermann is inside the Top-10 of nearly every offensive statistic for the conference at the moment, as she is second in kills (216) and points (236), fourth in kills per set (3.49), sixth in points per set (3.81), and eighth in hitting percentage (.326). Also, Gonzales' defensive efforts last weekend now have her sixth in blocks per set (1.05).
Jacksonville State's team statistics are among the best in Division I as well. JSU is one of just two teams in the nation to rank in the Top-11 in Hitting Percentage (.299, 9th) and Opponent Hitting Percentage (.152, 11th). The Gamecocks lead the league in assists (785) and assists per set (12.66) and are currently 25th and 31st in the nation in those categories respectively. Jax State's marks in kills (848) and kills per set (13.68) are also tops in the ASUN and 27th and 29th in Division I.
The Gamecocks, who were listed as the no. 47 team in this week's NCAA Women's Volleyball RPI Rankings, will meet their second-toughest opponent of the season this weekend according to those same standings. Aside from undefeated Auburn (no. 38), who beat Jacksonville State in a five-set barnburner on Sept. 17, Kennesaw State (no. 61) is expected to be the biggest test JSU will face in 2022.
"Kennesaw is a very, very good team," Garvey said. "They were good last year and really only lost one player that was a major piece of the team. I feel like they're better than they were last season, and that's saying a lot because they were good last year. We know we're going to have our work cut out for us. They're a team that's going to come in and fight."
The Owls, led by tenth-year head coach Keith Schunzel, already have double-digit wins on the year. Those victories came despite a brutal non-conference slate in which they faced national powers Houston, Mississippi State, and Wake Forest. KSU is 3-1 in ASUN matches this season, with their lone loss coming Friday at Liberty in a mistake-filled contest. Kennesaw State's most dangerous weapons are junior Claire Parsons- who is third in the league in hitting percentage and fourth in blocks per set- and senior Dani Ballou, who ranks eighth in kills per set and seventh in points per set. Furthermore, setter McKinley Ferguson is fourth in the ASUN in assists per set and fourth in services aces per set.
"We're just looking forward to it. I think it's going to be two of the biggest tests we've had, playing them in back-to-back matchups," Garvey said. "Last season we went 2-0 against them, but both games went five, so I wouldn't expect anything different. I think it's going to be a war."
Those unable to attend Friday's showdown at the Pete or Sunday's match at the KSU Convocation Center can watch both on ESPN+. Additionally, score updates will be posted on JSU Volleyball's Twitter account (@JSUGamecockVB). Live stats and post-game coverage will be provided at JSUGamecockSports.com.
"We definitely have had some great crowds this year, and we're hoping to get a big crowd out this weekend," Garvey said. "Playing a rival, and somebody that's one of the best teams in the conference, one of the best teams in the country, I think it's going to be an exciting weekend, so we hope the crowd gets out and supports us."
To stay up to date with the Gamecocks, be sure to follow their Facebook (Jacksonville State Volleyball), Twitter, and Instagram (@JSUGamecockVB) accounts.
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