JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville State Gamecocks were defeated Friday night at Pete Mathews Coliseum by the Florida International Panthers.
 
Jax State (7-19, 0-13) was downed 26-24, 26-24, and 25-18 by FIU (6-20, 4-9) at home. The Gamecocks collected 32 kills, 30 assists, 49 digs, nine blocks, and six aces.
 
"They played a lot of volleyball the last few days," head coach Derek Schroeder said. "They had to do a makeup weekend on Tuesday-Wednesday then travel here. I think it was probably tough for them to get going, to their credit they did. They played well, and we played well early on."
 
Caty Havekost led the Gamecocks in kills with 10 in the three-set match. Havekost had a double-double on the evening by adding 10 digs. Brooklyn Schiffli led the squad in digs with 12. Ellie Garrett had a team-best 26 assists.
 
"We were trying to win points dirty," Schroeder added. "And we did, we fought really hard. It was a lot of focus, determination. I told them after the match 'I'm happy coaching them tonight because you were trying to win, and you were very alert, very focused on what we were trying to do.' They fought hard. It was a close match, and I was happy with our effort."
 
Jax State and Florida International will face each other again on Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Pete. The game will be streaming on ESPN+, live stats will be available at JaxStateSports.com, and admission to all home volleyball matches is free.
 
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