BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Although Jacksonville State built upon a spirited effort shown in Saturday's loss at Western Kentucky, the Gamecocks could not catch enough breaks down the stretch and suffered a three-set loss against the Hilltoppers in Sunday afternoon's Conference USA test. Senior Maddie Stayer had a strong performance, however, finishing with a match-best 11 kills and a season-high attack percentage of .474 in the loss. 
 
"I liked our fight again," head coach Derek Schroeder said. "This team comes to play every night. I'm really happy about that. We had just a couple lapses of confidence and focus. That led to some runs by WKU and we're not going to come back once we give up a five- or six-point lead. 
 
"Even at the end, we fought back and got the last three points before they put it away," Schroeder said. "That just tells you how much heart these kids have. We made some good adjustments today but we just couldn't execute them. The effort was there again, though."
 
A much-improved offensive attack shined for Jacksonville State in the opening set. Stayer tallied five kills in the interval and the Gamecocks hit .314 as a team, but 20 kills by the Hilltoppers helped them claim a 25-19 victory. Their momentum carried into the second as Western Kentucky built an early 8-1 advantage and never looked back, taking the frame by 11. The third frame saw Jax State trailing just 13-11 midway through before an 8-1 run helped WKU build enough of a lead to pull away in a 25-17 triumph. 
 
Along with Stayer's impressive outing, Kaylee Moseley added seven kills and Ellie Garrett had six kills to go along with 21 assists and six digs. Eleven and ten digs from Gracie Danziger and Brooklyn Schiffli were tops for the Red-and-White as well. 
 
"Maddie did a good job attacking today and the offense in general did really well at times," Schroeder said. "Moseley was back to her natural position and that was good for her. Being there offensively, where she's a little more comfortable, was really big for her. 
 
"I don't know if the numbers will really say it, but I also thought Clarke Adams did great," Schroeder said. "In the back row we've been working really hard on our moves in serve receive. Western serves very tough and Clarke figured it out today, making some great moves and controlling the ball well in the second half of set two and in the third."
 
The Gamecocks were out-hit .327 to .157 by the Hilltoppers. WKU also held advantages in kills (42 to 33), aces (4 to 3), blocks (5 to 2), assists (41 to 32), and digs (42 to 39). 
 
"We dropped two or three attack errors per set which made them earn a few more points," Schroeder said. "That's a big difference. We're still just not clean enough. We're an execution, three-contact team. We have to put three good contacts in a row together to have successful."
 
Jacksonville State returns home next week to start back-to-back home series in Conference USA play. They will host Liberty next Friday and Saturday (Oct. 13-14), then welcome New Mexico State to Pete Mathews Coliseum Oct. 20-21. Admission to all Jax State volleyball home matches is free. 
 
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