MIAMI, Fla. – Jax State volleyball lost 3-2 Friday night at Florida International. The Gamecocks took the first two sets of the match before the hosting Panthers won three-straight to take the match.
 
The Gamecocks (11-12, 5-6) and Panthers (15-9, 9-2) opened the match with an intense first set in which Jax State rallied late to clinch a 25-23 win. The Gamecocks then cruised to a 25-17 second set victory before FIU responded with 28-26 third set win. FIU won the fourth set 25-8 and the fifth set 15-13.
 
Kayla Williams led the Red-and-White offensively with 24 kills. Williams also added 13 digs, a service ace, and a solo block. Sophia Schweikert had the next most kills with 12. Charlee Solomon had a team-best 42 assists. Solomon also tallied 13 digs, five kills, three block assists, and three aces.
 
Defensively, Morgan Blazzard notched a team-high 16 digs. Luci Wilkinson followed with 15 digs, respectively. Sanni Rantanen and D'Yanna Spicer tied for a team-high four blocks. Rantanen also had a season-best seven digs to go along with six kills and three aces. The Gamecocks had 57 kills, 72 digs, 47 assists, nine blocks, and eight aces against the Panthers.
 
In the opening set, FIU went ahead 7-3 early. FIU later went up 18-14, but back-to-back points by the Gamecocks made it 18-16. FIU went up 23-19 before Williams sparked a 6-0 scoring run with a kill to help the Gamecocks take the set. Williams capped the set with another kill.
 
In the second set, FIU went on an early 4-0 run to gain a 5-2 advantage. Schweikert put the Gamecocks in front 9-8 and kickstart a 4-0 run of their own to eventually extend their lead to 12-8. Jax State scored six-straight late to make it 22-14 Gamecocks. Amaya Tolentino earned a kill before an attack error by the Panthers ended the set 25-17.
 
The two teams traded blows early in the third before an ace by Rantanen put the Gamecocks in front 12-11. FIU took a 20-17 lead late before four-straight points by the Gamecocks put them back ahead 21-20. Jax State got to set point thanks to a kill by Williams, but the Panthers went on to tie two points later. Schweikert's kill tied it at 26 before back-to-back points by FIU ended the set.
 
FIU controlled the fourth set to tie the match 2-2. In the decisive fifth set, FIU went up 10-6 before a kill from Schweikert made it 10-7. With the Panthers in front 12-9, Williams put down three kills and Solomon scored an ace to put Jax State ahead 13-12. FIU closed the match on a 3-0 run.
 
The Gamecocks and Panthers play again on Saturday at 12 p.m. central at Ocean Bank Convocation Center.
 
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