JACKSONVILLE – Jacksonville State volleyball earned their fourth win at Pete Mathews Coliseum Friday evening thanks to a 3-1 triumph over Sam Houston.
 
The Bearkats (8-14, 0-9) took the first set over Jax State (10-11, 4-5) 25-14. The Gamecocks responded with a 25-22 second set win, a 25-19 third set win, and a 25-15 fourth set win to clinch the match.
 
Jax State was led by freshman outside hitter Sophia Schweikert who had 17 kills against the Bearkats. Kayla Williams reached double-digits with 13 kills, while Amaya Tolentino added 10 kills, respectively. Charlee Solomon paced the Red-and-White with 43 assists, while Luci Wilkinson led the Gamecocks with 31 digs. Solomon also had double-digit digs with 11.
 
The Gamecocks could not get anything going in the first set as Sam Houston jumped out to a 10-4 lead thanks to an early 7-0 scoring run. Tolentino and Schweikert notched back-to-back kills to end the scoring drought for the Gamecocks to make it 10-6. Later in the first, Sam Houston made it 17-10. Jax State's final point of the set came on a Solomon ace to make it 20-14 Bearkats.
 
Jax State flipped the script in the second as they went on an early 5-0 run to take an 8-6 lead. Schweikert earned a kill to help the Gamecocks go on a quick 3-0 run to make it 12-8 Jax State. Prior to the media break, Solomon scored another ace to put the Gamecocks ahead 15-10. Sam Houston scored three-straight late to cut Jax State's advantage to two before a Bearkats service error ended the set with Jax State winning 25-22.
 
With the match tied at two sets apiece, Jax State went ahead in the third set by a score of 9-8 thanks to a Williams kill. The Gamecocks then scored three in a row capped by a Tolentino kill to extend their lead to 12-9. Schweikert downed a kill at the end of an 8-2 Jax State run as they pulled away in the third by a score of 22-14. Sam Houston got within 24-19 before the Gamecocks clinched the set.
 
Jax State ended the match in dominating fashion in the fourth set. A Williams kill put Jax State ahead 11-10 and they never lost the lead in the match after that point. Jax State scored four-straight to go up 16-11 before Sam Houston answered with a 4-0 run of their own to make it 16-15. However, Jax State ended the match on a 9-0 scoring run to win the match three sets to one.
 
The Gamecocks are back in action Saturday at 1 p.m. in Pete Mathews Coliseum. Prior to the match, Jax State will honor nine seniors as it is senior day for the Gamecocks.
 
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