EL PASO, Texas – UTEP handed Jacksonville State a loss in straight sets in Thursday night's Conference USA affair. Jax State could not find their footing against an experienced Miners squad, consequentially dropping their first league contest as a CUSA member.
"We kind of ran into a buzzsaw," head coach
Derek Schroeder said. "They started their CUSA season 0-2 and you could see they came out ready to play. They got after it at the service line and it took us two sets just to settle down our serve-receive. When we're not in-system it's tough to create, so hats off to them. They served and passed the heck out of the ball."
The two sides played to a tight first set early on. The Gamecocks rallied from an initial deficit to get as close as two at 11-9 before the Miners pressed down on the accelerator. A 5-0 burst late in the frame was all the home team needed to claim a 25-18 victory. The second set was more decisive as ten attack errors held back the Jax State offense, and a rowdy crowd in El Paso cheered on the Miners to a 25-16 difference. The Red-and-White played some of their best volleyball in the third set, hitting .304 with ten kills, but could not overcome an early UTEP advantage and fell 25-17.
UTEP out-hit Jacksonville State .400 to .173 and finished with more kills (41 to 31), aces (9 to 2), blocks (11 to 3), assists (40 to 26), and digs (22 to 20).
Kaylee Moseley had a team-best eight kills on a .462 clip after starting 5-for-5.
Ellie Garrett had a match-high 24 assists while
Clarke Adams and
Luci Wilkinson ended up with four digs each. Garrett and Ellie Danziger accounted for both of Jax State's aces.
The Gamecocks and Miners will round out their regular season series on Saturday afternoon at Memorial Gym in El Paso. First serve is slated for 1 p.m. CT.
"We'll get back to it," Schroeder said. "The way we passed the ball in the third set was much better. I'm going to have to look at it and see if we're going to have to pass the ball better and how we're going to attack their big block. We're obviously going to have to serve the ball better in their gym."
Links to watch or follow along with live stats for that match will be provided at JaxStateSports.com. In addition, score updates will be posted on Jax 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.
