JACKSONVILLE – Jacksonville State's volleyball team closed out the 2024 season with a home victory on senior night over the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs. The Gamecocks ended the year on a two-game win streak.
Jax State won the first two sets of the match with a 25-22 opening set win and a dominating 25-16 second set victory. The Bulldogs rallied in the third set for a 25-19 win before the Gamecocks clinched the fourth set by a score of 25-21. Jax State ends the season with a 10-21 overall record and a 3-15 record in CUSA action. LA Tech ends the season at 8-23 overall and 2-16 in league play.
"Nobody wants our season to end today," head coach
Derek Schroeder said. "A reason that it was good that it ended today was that we did it together. Wow, what a cliché, I don't want it to sound like a cliché. After LA Tech took it to us in that third set, and they played really well and we lost our focus, and we lost our edge, I brought them back in and I said, 'Okay, now we've made it hard and we know fourth sets going to be hard, but we're going to do it together."
The Gamecocks produced in all facets of the game Friday evening. The Red-and-White collected 68 kills, 60 digs, 60 assists, nine service aces, and four blocks in the match.
Senior setter
Ellie Garrett ended her Gamecock career nearly etching a triple-double. Garrett had 48 assists, eight digs, and seven kills. Garrett also had the best hit percentage at .500. Senior libero
Brooklyn Schiffli also ended her career in a positive way with 17 digs, four assists, and a kill.
Kayla Williams led the Gamecocks with 22 kills while
Caty Havekost and
Sanni Rantanen had 13 kills apiece.
Seniors
Carley Lynch,
Kathryn Smith, and
Katelyn Crofts all got the start in their final match. Crofts had six kills, and Lynch had a service ace.
"They were excited to do the fourth set together," Schroeder added. "That hasn't been that way on this team, so I was really happy with that."
The Gamecocks will miss the 2024 CUSA Conference Tournament as the league takes the top eight seeds. Jax State will finish the year in ninth place.
To stay up-to-date with the Gamecocks, follow their Twitter (@JaxStateVB), Instagram (@JaxStateVB), and Facebook (Jacksonville State Volleyball) accounts.
