CHICAGO, Ill. – Gamecock volleyball lost its final match of the Windy City Classic on Saturday afternoon, falling in three sets to UC Irvine. 
 
The Anteaters (2-3) and Gamecocks (1-5) played to a tight first set at Jones Convocation Center in Chicago. UCI led for most of the frame and held a sizable advantage down the stretch before a ferocious comeback attempt by Jax State followed. In the end they could not catch the breaks needed and fell 25-21. UC Irvine responded with a long scoring run midway through the following set, hitting .406 in that span and never looking back in a 25-14 difference. Jacksonville State never gained their footing in the third, hitting .057 in the interval to lose 25-16. 
 
Morgan McClure led the Gamecocks with nine kills and four blocks against UCI. Gracie Danziger had 14 digs and Ellie Garrett had a match-high 25 assists. Maddie Stayer and Kaylee Moseley ended up with five kills each. 
 
"There were definitely some growth moments and we did see some really good things, but unfortunately it wasn't enough," head coach Dex Schroeder said. "I tried to prepare them well this week for a tough first-contact weekend, but whatever I did, I didn't quite do enough. That's my bad and we'll get back to the drawing board on Monday."
 
Jacksonville State returns to action next weekend in Southern Indiana's USI Invitational. They will open the tourney with matches against Bradley and Southern Indiana on Friday before concluding with a Saturday afternoon affair versus Arkansas – Pine Bluff. 
 
"We're going to have to generate more points and cut out a bunch of negative contacts," Schroeder said. "We can probably make a five-point swing in our match totals if we just cut out a few negative contacts and produce two or three more points, whether that's through aces or blocks."
 
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