NASHVILLE, TENN. – An amazing season for Gamecock volleyball (24-6, 12-4) came to a close in their five-set loss (19-25, 25-17, 20-25, 25-20, 10-15) to Kennesaw State in the ASUN Championship Quarterfinals on Thursday evening. With that loss, the most impressive two-year stretch in program history ended.
 
"We had a tough draw having to play Kennesaw State in the first round," Jacksonville State head coach Todd Garvey said after the defeat. "I feel like we were two of the better teams in the conference but we played really well and had our chance. It could've gone either way. I'm proud of the team for the way we battled and kept fighting."

Despite the loss, several Gamecocks had nights to remember in Nashville. Redshirt sophomore Courtney Glotzbach tied her career-high of 19 kills and graduate setter Claire Ochs ended up with a season-high, and one off of a career-high, with her 59 assists against the Owls. Katie Montgomery tied a career-high of six aces in the ASUN Quarterfinals while Lena Kindermann and Sophie Riemersma finished with 19 and 16 kills respectively, with each hitting north of .275 in the final game of their college careers.
 
Jacksonville State's defense could not slow down the Owls early at Lipscomb's Allen Arena. A 16-kill opening set by the six-seed Kennesaw State led to a quick 25-19 victory. Fortunately, JSU found a quick response by tallying 16 kills of their own and hitting .414 as a team in the second set. Those efforts tied it at 1-1 heading into the intermission, momentarily shifting the momentum in favor of the three-seed.
 
Kennesaw State, as they would do all night, found a way to stall the Gamecock's offensive success in the third. A flurry of blocks, mainly by middle blocker Claire Parsons, forced Jax State into six attack errors. KSU went on an impressive scoring run down the stretch and claimed a 25-20 third set. Once again, though, JSU rose to the occasion. After a mostly tit-for-tat frame, a 4-0 run halfway through gave Garvey's squad a lead, and a 3-0 run late capped off a 25-20 set victory to force a decisive fifth set.
 
Following an incredible, evenly-matched four sets, the two teams started the fifth set on their best feet. They raced out to a 7-7 tie, but a block by Sophie Riemersma and Zoe Gonzales handed Jacksonville State a one-point advantage as the two teams swapped sides of the floor. Once they reached the opposite benches, all the momentum swapped over. Kennesaw State would go on a 8-2 run, including a 6-0 spurt in the game's final six rallies, to secure the five-set triumph.

"We got a really bad break late in the fifth set with a mishandle by their setter, but that's part of the game. You're going to get some good calls and some bad ones," Garvey said. "Kennesaw played a little bit more clean down the stretch than we did and I think (KSU freshman Manu) Johnsen was the difference for them. She had 24 kills and hit .423."
 
Gonzales had four blocks in Nashville and Riemersma ended up with two. Erin Carmichael finished with 18 digs, with Ochs and Brooklyn Schiffli tallying 13 and 12 at Allen Arena.
 
With the defeat, Jacksonville State's season likely comes to a close barring a selection to the NCAA Tournament. Jax State's 49 wins in the 2021 and 2022 seasons sets a new program record for consecutive seasons. Four fifth-year student-athletes will bid adieu to the program- Lena Kindermann, Katie Montgomery, Claire Ochs, and Sophie Riemersma- while four seniors have one year of eligibility remaining (Erin Carmichael, Zoe Gonzales, Anna Nelson, and Kylee Quigley).

"I wish things had gone differently the last few points of the game, but I'm still incredibly proud of this team for the season they had," Garvey said.