JACKSONVILLE – Gamecock volleyball earned their second-straight win in conference play with a 3-2 triumph over Middle Tennessee Saturday afternoon.
 
The Gamecocks (8-8, 2-2) downed the Blue Raiders (8-7, 1-3) 25-20 in the first set. MTSU took the second and third sets by scores of 26-24 in the second and 26-21 in the third. Jax State tied the match 2-2 with a commanding 25-13 fourth set win. In the fifth, the Gamecocks clinched the match with a 15-11 victory.
 
Kayla Williams was the go-to on offense for the Red-and-White with an 18-kill performance. Williams also added seven digs and two service aces to her stat line. Sanni Rantanen had the next most kills with 11 on a team-high .429 hitting percentage. Amaya Tolentino was also in double-figures with 10 kills.
 
Charlee Solomon had a team-high 37 assists at setter. Solomon had 13 digs, five kills, two service aces, and two block assists as well. Luci Wilkinson led the Gamecocks with 25 digs, Morgan Blazzard added 11 digs, and Madison Konopka had seven digs. Rantanen and Tolentino tied for a team-best three blocks. Jax State had 54 kills, 12 aces, eight blocks, 49 assists, and 73 digs as a team.
 
The Gamecocks trailed 10-8 in the first before a 5-0 run capped by a Rantanen ace put the Gamecocks ahead 13-10. Later in the first, Jax State went on a 6-0 scoring run that was sparked by a Williams kill to extend their lead to 20-12. MTSU crawled back into the set with a 5-0 run of their own to make it 21-18 Gamecocks late. However, Rantanen clinched the set with a kill.
 
Jax State got up 9-6 in the second set thanks to a kill by Izzy Whittaker starting a 4-0 run. Midway through the second MTSU tied it at 15-15. The Blue Raiders held a 22-20 advantage before Williams and Rantanen notched back-to-back kills to make it 22-22. The two teams battled before MTSU was able to take a contested second set win.
 
In the third, the Blue Raiders went up three, but a quick 3-0 scoring run by the Gamecocks made it 7-7 early. The Blue Raiders later went on a 5-0 run to take a 15-9 lead at the halfway point of the set. Later, Jax State got within one point, 19-18, thanks to a kill by Solomon. MTSU responded with a 3-0 run to go up 23-19 late in the set before taking a 2-1 set lead into the fourth.
 
Early in the fourth, Jax State was dominating 7-3 thanks to a 7-2 scoring run. Williams later got two-straight kills to put the Gamecocks ahead 17-6. A quick scoring run by MTSU made it 17-10, but Jax State responded with a kill by Williams. The Gamecocks went up 10, 22-12, as they approached set point. Three-straight Jax State points forced a fifth set.
 
The fifth set started with the two teams tied 3-3. After that, Jax State scored four-straight to go up 7-3 thanks to a service ace from Solomon. MTSU made it 7-5 before a kill by Tolentino put the Gamecocks ahead 9-5. Wilkinson capped a quick 3-0 run with an ace to put the Gamecocks ahead 12-7. The Blue Raiders scored three-straight to make it 12-10, but Jax State answered with two-straight points by Rantanen. The match ended thanks to an attack error by the Blue Raiders.
 
Jax State will face Missouri State next Friday, Oct. 10, at 6 p.m. and Saturday, Oct. 11, at 1 p.m. in the Pete Mathews Coliseum.
 
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