BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – A strong effort put together by Jacksonville State volleyball was not enough on Saturday afternoon as they fell in three sets at Western Kentucky. The Gamecocks held tight early in each frame but could not take a set on the road against the league favorite Hilltoppers. 
 
"I thought our kids played really, really hard," head coach Derek Schroeder said. "I was very happy with them for 95% of that match. I wish we'd had a better response to some adversity where we gave up four-, five-, or six-point runs, but other than that it was good. That's a big, physical volleyball team that is well-coached with a championship mindset on the other side of the net, and they're where we want to go."
 
Jacksonville State (4-11, 2-3) opened hot against Western Kentucky (15-4, 5-0), playing to a deadlock through the first 16 points. The Hilltoppers led by just three at the media timeout before a 10-3 run, sparked by timely aces and Jax State service errors, helped them claim a 25-16 opener. A similar second set followed. The Gamecocks went on a 3-0 spurt early to tie it at nine before WKU stepped on the accelerator. Although Schroeder's squad fought to the end, they dropped the set, 25-15. Five Hilltopper blocks in the third played a part in a negative hitting percentage for Jacksonville State. They could not recover from an early deficit, falling 25-15 to drop the match in straight sets. 
 
Clarke Adams had a match-high 10 kills and Brooklyn Schiffli's 17 digs were also a match-best. Stavroula Papazoglou got the start and added six kills, three digs, and one ace while Ellie Garrett finished with 21 assists, four digs, two kills, and one ace. 
 
Despite the loss, the Gamecock defense held a top-tier WKU offense to 34 kills and a hitting percentage of .263. The Hilltoppers had more aces (six to two), blocks (ten to one), assists (30 to 24), and digs (46 to 44). 
 
"If you'd told me we could hold them to a sub-.250 hitting percentage, I'd have been happy and would've taken that," Schroeder said. "That was just tenacity. We extended some long rallies and forced some errors by them. It was thanks to players like Brooklyn, Luci Wilkinson, and our back row players extending rallies by making some spectacular defensive plays."
 
The Gamecocks and Hilltoppers will round out their weekend series in the Bluegrass State with a Sunday matinee set for noon at E.A. Diddle Arena. Links to watch or follow along with live stats will be provided at JaxStateSports.com. In addition, score updates will be posted on Jax State Volleyball's X account (@JaxStateVB).
 
"We're going to sit down, go over the film, and figure out what we think," Schroeder said. "I have an idea of the adjustments that they're going to make and I'm hoping I'm smart enough to get ahead of those."
 
To stay up-to-date with the Gamecocks, follow their X (@JaxStateVB), Instagram (@JaxStateVB), and Facebook (Jacksonville State Volleyball) accounts.