JACKSONVILLE – Jacksonville State volleyball will hit the road this weekend for the penultimate week of regular season play in the ASUN Conference. The Gamecocks will play Lipscomb in a Friday night match in Nashville, Tenn., before duking it out with Austin Peay in Clarksville, Tenn., on Saturday afternoon.
 
"We going to get tested again this weekend," Jacksonville State head coach Todd Garvey said. "Unfortunately, there's no easy games in this conference. Lipscomb, up until their last game, was tied for first in the conference. Austin Peay is someone we're really familiar with too, being in the (Ohio Valley Conference) with them for years and years, and they always have a great program. It's going to be two more challenging matches."
 
JSU is coming off consecutive weekends in which they went 1-1. Garvey's squad fell in five sets at North Florida on Oct. 21 before rebounding at Jacksonville the following day. They had identical results last weekend against FGCU and Stetson respectively. Now, Jax State will try for a weekend sweep, something they have not accomplished since mid-October against Eastern Kentucky and Bellarmine.
 
"I thought we played two really good matches last weekend," Garvey said. "That FGCU match was really high-level for both teams and could've gone either way. Saturday, we played great against Stetson to go 3-0 and play at the level that we did."
 
Also on the line this weekend is an opportunity for JSU to clinch a spot in the ASUN Conference Tournament. The sixth-place Gamecocks, who are currently just two games out of first place, need to continue their winning ways to qualify for the tourney. To accomplish that, they will have to down a pair of solid teams in the Volunteer State.
 
Lipscomb (12-11, 9-3) played a brutal non-conference schedule, facing the likes of Louisville, Kansas, and Stanford, but has taken care of business in league action. Brandon Rosenthal is in his 20^th season leading the Bisons and has another veteran group in Nashville this fall. Their top performer thus far has been junior outside hitter Caroline Stogner, a UAB transfer that is top ten in the ASUN in kills per set (3.21, 7^th), service aces per set (0.39, 6^th), and points per set (3.76, 8^th).
 
"(Lipscomb is) very, very good. They are loaded," Garvey said. "They are kind of like us offensively. They're really well balanced and they're going to spread the ball around and set everybody, which makes it tougher to defend. They've got a good libero and a good setter and have won the ASUN Conference more than any other team. They've dominated the conference for years, and we know it's going to be a big test for us."
 
Austin Peay (11-12, 4-8) has taken some lumps in ASUN matches this fall, but do not let the record fool you. The Governors have lost three conference tests in five sets and came very close to upsetting Lipscomb two separate times earlier this month. They are led by Taylor Mott, the tenth-year coaching veteran who took the program to its second-ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 2017. Austin Peay's offense has struggled at times this season but their defense, guided by senior libero and Huntsville, Ala., native Erin Eisenhart, has helped them hang around in several league showdowns. Eisenhart is fifth in the ASUN in total digs (406) and sixth in digs per set (4.41).
 
"Even though I think they're ninth or tenth in the conference right now, they've got a very good team," Garvey said. "They've lost several matches that have gone 15-13 or 15-12 in the fifth set. Anybody can beat anybody and they've got a great team."
 
Friday's meeting with the Bisons will be the sixth-ever for Jacksonville State. JSU leads the series 3-2 after splitting last season's showdowns in October (3-0 win at The Pete) and November (3-2 loss in Nashville). Jax State is 16-16 against former OVC foe Austin Peay. The Gamecocks swept their last meeting in 2019 but prior to that had a four-match losing skid versus the Governors dating back to 2016.
 
Fans unable to attend this weekend's matches can stream all the action on ESPN+. Links to watch or follow along with live stats will be provided at JSUGamecockSports.com. Additionally, score updates will be posted on JSU Volleyball's Twitter account (@JSUGamecockVB).
 
To stay up-to-date with the Gamecocks, be sure to follow their Facebook (Jacksonville State Volleyball), Twitter, and Instagram (@JSUGamecockVB) accounts.
 
STAT WATCH
JSU remains the league's most efficient offense, leading the ASUN with a hitting percentage of .280. That mark is 16^th-best in Division I. Katie Montgomery has hit .376 this season, a percentage that is tops in the conference and Top 40 in the nation.
 
Lena Kindermann, Claire Ochs, and Kylee Quigley had big weekends against FGCU and Stetson and, as a result, saw their league rankings rise in certain statistics. Kindermann is now third in kills (323), fourth in kills per set (3.51), fifth in points (351.0), sixth in points per set (3.82), and seventh in hitting percentage (.325). Ochs has the third-most total assists (950) and assists per set (10.56) in the ASUN, which rank 17^th and 33^rd respectively in all of Division I. Additionally, after tallying five aces versus the Eagles and Hatters, Quigley is now second in the league in service aces (38) and aces per set (0.44).
 
Several Gamecocks are getting closer and closer to reaching milestones. Senior libero Erin Carmichael was honored with a game ball last weekend after topping 1300 career digs, and the Avon, Ind., native is now just one away from 1400. Graduate transfer Sophie Riemersma and redshirt sophomore Courtney Glotzbach have 976 and 380 career kills respectively and could reach 1,000 and 400 with big outings in Tennessee. Also, Ochs is now 33 digs away from marking 1,500 in her career.
 
As for head coach Todd Garvey, the fifth-year leader of JSU's volleyball program enters the weekend with a head coaching record of 99-38. His next victory would put him in exclusive company as just the third coach in program history to reach 100 wins (Janice Slay, 430; Rick Nold, 171). In addition, he would be the second to do so at the Division I level after Nold.