JACKSONVILLE – Jax State volleyball plays Middle Tennessee Friday at 6 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m. in the Gamecocks' home opener. The weekend against the Blue Raiders is also the team's alumni weekend.
 
The Gamecocks are 6-8 after losing the first two conference games last weekend at Conference USA preseason favorite Western Kentucky on Sep. 26 and 27.
 
Kayla Williams led Jax State's offensive attack against the Hilltoppers with 29 kills on 4.83 kills per set. Williams also had 10 digs and a block. Amaya Tolentino had the next most kills with 12. Also offensively, Charlee Solomon led the Red-and-White with 47 assists on 7.83 assists per set. Solomon added 23 digs, an average of 3.83 digs per set, two blocks, and three kills across the two matches.
 
Defensively, Luci Wilkinson had a team-best 33 digs on 5.50 digs per set. Morgan Blazzard had 14 digs on 2.33 digs per set, and Madison Konopka added 12 digs. Sanni Rantanen had a team-high four total blocks.
 
Williams was honored as Second Team All-CUSA thanks to her efforts in 2024. She also was named to the 2025 Preseason All-CUSA Team. Williams is second in CUSA this season with 213 kills and her average of 4.02 kills per set also ranks second in the conference. Wilkinson is second in total digs in CUSA with 236 and second in average digs per set at 4.45. Solomon leads CUSA with 479 total assists and is second in the league averaging 9.04 assists per set.
 
Jax State (6-8, 0-2) vs Middle Tennessee (8-5, 1-1)
When: Friday, Oct. 3 @ 6 PM | Saturday, Oct. 4 @ 2 PM
Where: Pete Mathews Coliseum | Jacksonville, Ala.
Watch: ESPN+
Live Stats: Stat Broadcast
Scouting Middle Tennessee: MTSU is coming off a 1-1 weekend against Kennesaw State. The Blue Raiders are led by first year head coach Alexa Keckler. Against the Owls, MTSU won 3-0 on Sep. 26, before losing 3-1 on Sep. 27. Offensively, the Blue Raiders are led by Raegan Durbin with 157 total kills on 3.74 kills per set. Caroline Macander is the go-to setter with 407 assists on 8.48 assists per set, while Isil Yilmaz leads in digs with 169 on 3.52 per set. Michaela Dlouha has 54.0 total blocks on 1.17 blocks per set at the net. MTSU has a 4-1 all-time record against Jax State. The Gamecocks won the first matchup 3-0 on Aug. 26, 2021. Since then, MTSU has won four-straight including a pair of wins in Murfreesboro, Tenn., last season.
 
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