JACKSONVILLE – Jax State volleyball claimed a 3-1 win in Pete Mathews Coliseum Saturday on a day nine seniors were honored before the game for senior day.
 
The Bearkats (8-15, 0-10) came out hot in the opening set to take down the Gamecocks (11-11, 5-5). Jax State responded with a dominant 25-15 second set win. In the third set, the Gamecocks won a tight 25-22. Jax State clinched the match with a 25-17 fourth set triumph.
 
Jax State was led offensively by Kayla Williams with 23 kills in the match. The freshman tandem of Sophia Schweikert and Amaya Tolentino followed Williams. Schweikert had nine kills, and Tolentino had eight, respectively. Charlee Solomon paved the way with 38 assists, while she was second on the team in digs with 15.
 
Defensively, Luci Wilkinson shined with a team-best 19 digs. Wilkinson also tallied 10 assists against the Bearkats. Morgan Blazzard added nine digs, respectively. D'Yanna Spicer set a new career-best seven blocks to lead the Gamecocks. Tolentino also set a new career-high in blocks with six total.  
 
Blazzard and Williams tied for three team-high aces. The Gamecocks had 58 kills, 60 digs, 54 assists, 11 blocks, and eight aces in the win.
 
After dropping the first set, the Gamecocks rallied with an impressive second set win. The Gamecocks never lost the lead in the second again after an early 7-7 tie. Williams sparked a 3-0 run with a kill late in the set. After the run, Jax State held a 21-14 advantage. Sam Houston earned a quick score before Jax State closed out the second on a 4-0 run to tie the match 1-1.
 
Sam Houston opened the third with a 5-3 advantage. The competitive third set went back-and-forth until the Bearkats scored four-straight to go ahead 15-11. Trailing 19-5, Jax State capped a 4-0 run with an ace from Blazzard tying the set at 19-19. Sam Houston eventually retook the lead 22-20 before Jax State closed out things out in the third on a 5-0 run.
 
In the fourth set, the Gamecocks went up by as much as 18-9. Sam Houston cut it to 18-10 before a Sanni Rantanen kill extended the Gamecocks' lead to 20-10 late. Sam Houston, trailing 22-13, scored three-straight to cut the Jax State advantage to 22-16. Williams put the Gamecocks ahead 24-16 before Jax State closed out the set 25-17.
 
Jax State heads to Miami, Fla., to face Florida International on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1.
 
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