JACKSONVILLE – Jacksonville State's 28th season of Division I volleyball gets underway on Friday in Bloomington, Ind., with the opening tournament of the year at the University of Indiana.
 
The Gamecocks open the much-anticipated season against Chicago State at 4 p.m. on Friday afternoon for the third all-time meeting between JSU and the Cougars. Jax State leads the series 2-0 after last meeting in 2002. On Saturday, The Gamecocks will try to conquer the Hoosier State with matches against both Indiana State and Indiana.
 
Following a 3-2 exhibition win over UAB last weekend, JSU heads into the 2022 campaign on the heels of a 25-7 mark a season ago and a roster stocked with talent. With the graduation of three-time conference Setter of the Year, Lexie Libs, head coach Todd Garvey brought in graduate transfer Claire Ochs (pronounced Oakes) to help direct JSU's powerful lineup. Ochs arrives with more than 1,300 career assists and was named the 2021 Ohio Valley Conference Setter of the Year at Southeast Missouri a season ago.
 
She's handed the reigns of an offense that returns four of its top five attackers from last year led by senior Lena Kindermann. The Neuekirchen, Germany, native, already ranks sixth on JSU's all-time kills list, just 240 away from second-place. All-American Abbey Breit leads the list with her record 1,897 kills, 561 ahead of Kindermann.
 
In addition to Kindermann, JSU returns seniors Katie Montgomery and Zoe Gonzales as offensive threats in the middle, while senior Kylee Quigley returns at the pin. As a bonus, Courtney Glotzbach returns to the lineup after missing last season with an injury. She was named the 2020 OVC Freshman of the Year with 166 kills and 22 blocks during the Covid spring season. The offense's depth continues with the arrivals of outside hitter Sophie Riemersma and middle blocker Ava Rasmussen. Riemersma was a former All-MAC Freshman Team member at Miami (OH) where she had nearly 800 kills and more than 100 blocks in her career.
 
The Gamecocks don't fall off any on the opposite side of the net either, returning fourth-year libero Erin Carmichael, who's 1,057 career digs are 11th most in program history. Behind the front line of Gonzales, Montgomery and Rasmussen, JSU's back row also features sophomore Brooklyn Schiffli who garnered more than 250 digs as a freshman.
 
Others off the Gamecocks bench include senior leader Anna Nelson and junior transfer Maddie Stayer, along with freshmen Ava Heyne, Luci Wilkinson, Parker Phenicie, Morgan  McClure and Kathryn Smith.
 
The first win of the season will mark the 80th under Coach Garvey at the start of his fifth season at the helm. Live stats for all three games this weekend can be found at JSUGamecockSports.com with recaps and more. Indiana will steam all matches on Big Ten Plus, a streaming service that requires a subscriptions to view.