JACKSONVILLE – Middle blocks Hana Aiana and Morgan McClure feasted for Jacksonville State volleyball on Saturday afternoon, each finishing with career-best outings in a Conference USA sweep of Sam Houston. 
 
"I'm so happy for the team," head coach Derek Schroeder said. "Everything came together this weekend and we might've looked like a Dex-coached team, who knows? We were flowing and in-system a lot, so I am very pleased with their performance. I'm also just happy for them. They're in the locker room right now and they're starting to feel it and believe in it."
 
After falling in straight sets yesterday, Sam Houston (6-9, 0-2) came out with a chip on their shoulder and pushed the Gamecocks (4-8, 2-0) to the limit in the opening frame. Fortunately for the Red-and-White faithful who made the trip to Pete Mathews Coliseum on Homecoming Weekend, Schroeder's squad rallied late to secure a 27-25 win to begin the match. They never slowed down in the second, going on several scoring runs to cruise to a 25-20 difference, and overcame a third-set comeback attempt by the Bearkats, 25-23, to close out the league affair. 
 
McClure (14 kills, .667 hitting percentage) and Aiana (12 kills, .476) set new career-highs for kills in the win, adding four and three blocks respectively. Ellie Garrett led both sides with 43 assists to go along with her seven digs, three blocks, and two aces, and Brooklyn Schiffli had a match-best 16 digs. Furthermore, Parker Phenicie paced a new career-best with three aces against the Bearkats. 
 
"Sam Houston did a really good job of adjusting on our pins and making them do things they weren't comfortable doing," Schroeder said. "We needed somebody to step up and our middles did just that. Early in the match, Tim Ebbecke, Jenna Sullivan, and I noticed that there was a bit of a weakness in the middle, and Morgan and Hana rose to the occasion."
 
The Gamecocks out-hit Sam Houston .263 to .126 and finished with more kills (46 to 34), blocks (7 to 4), assists (45 to 31), and digs (51 to 44). Though the Bearkats had eight aces for the second consecutive night, they allowed five Jax State serves to hit the floor. 
 
Following Saturday's triumph, Jacksonville State will have a few days to recover and reload before making the trip out west to play UTEP next week. They will meet the Miners in El Paso, Texas, at 7 p.m. Thursday and 1 p.m. Saturday. There will not be a match on Friday evening as UTEP football hosts Louisiana Tech at the Sun Bowl.  
 
"It's going to be a short week for us because the schedule is different in El Paso, so it's going to be a big challenge," Schroeder said. "Being on the road, it'll be tough to go in and win the serve-pass battle and defend as well as we normally defend. Still, though, we'll bring a feisty and competitive nature to UTEP and we'll see if that's good enough."
 
Links to watch or follow along with live stats for both matches will be provided at JaxStateSports.com. In addition, score updates will be posted on Jacksonville State Volleyball's X account (@JaxStateVB). 
 
To stay up-to-date with the Gamecocks, follow their X (@JaxStateVB), Instagram (@JaxStateVB), and Facebook (Jacksonville State Volleyball) accounts.