EL PASO, Texas – Jacksonville State volleyball fell 3-0 to UTEP on Saturday afternoon to round out its first Conference USA road trip. A veteran Miners squad took control of the match early and the Gamecocks could not bounce back.
"We ran into a really good team this weekend who was very motivated for their CUSA home opener and we just couldn't hang with them physically," head coach
Derek Schroeder said. "I need to do a better job in the weeks coming up because the opponents are going to continue to get bigger and stronger, so I'm going to try to find ways to make teams uncomfortable on offense and generate points for us."
A loud Memorial Gym helped the Miners claim all the momentum early in the first set. Jax State never settled in, hitting sub-.150 in the set and falling 25-14. UTEP cruised in the second, 25-9, after holding the Gamecocks to just four kills. In the third set, another team hitting percentage of .000 for the Red-and-White led to a 25-15 clincher for the Miners.
Clarke Adams led Jax State with five kills and
Morgan McClure finished with four kills on a .375 clip.
Ellie Garrett had a match-best 14 assists and
Brooklyn Schiffli's 11 digs were the most of anyone in the match. In addition, Adams, Garrett, and Schiffli each had an ace in the loss. True freshman
Selin Sakiroglu tallied her first kill of the season as well.
UTEP out-hit Jacksonville State .500 to .062 and had more kills (39 to 21), aces (12 to three), blocks (six to two), assists (33 to 18), and digs (24 to 20).
"I thought some of our girls did a really good job of not getting down and continuing to fight and produce," Schroeder said. "It helped us find another level to our game when the things we were comfortable doing weren't scoring. We had to think outside the box a little and find those ways."
Jacksonville State hits the road again next weekend as they continue Conference USA play. The Gamecocks will travel to Bowling Green, Ky., for Saturday and Sunday contests at Western Kentucky beginning at 12 p.m. each day. Links to watch and follow along with live stats for both matches will be provided at JaxStateSports.com.
To stay up-to-date with the Gamecocks, follow their X (@JaxStateVB), Instagram (@JaxStateVB), and Facebook (Jacksonville State Volleyball) accounts.
