PEORIA, Ill. – Gamecock volleyball goes 1-1 in their first two matches in Bradley's Family Weekend Tournament Friday afternoon.
The Gamecocks opened the day with a 3-0 sweep of the hosts Bradley Braves. The Red-and-White then fell 3-1 against the Kansas City Roos later. With the results, Jax State now sits at 4-4 thus far.
"We had a good day today," head coach
Derek Schroeder said. "Executed at a high level in our first match and played clean. UMKC played a heck of a match against us in the second match. Made it very hard to find the floor offensively, and that chipped away at us until we lost our execution."
Jax State defeated Bradley 25-19, 25-21, and 25-22.
Kayla Williams led the Gamecocks with 11 kills,
Sophia Schweikert had 10 kills, and
Amaya Tolentino tallied nine kills.
Luci Wilkinson was a force on defense and serving the ball as she led the Red-and-White with 14 digs and four service aces.
Charlee Solomon paced the Gamecocks with 31 assists and four total blocks. As a team, Jax State had 41 kills, 39 assists, 37 digs, seven aces, and five blocks.
Against Kansas City, the Gamecocks took a hard fought first set by a score of 26-24. The Roos turned the tides after that winning the second set 25-21, taking the third 25-15, and clinching the match win 25-21.
Schweikert led Jax State offensively with 18 kills, tying her career-best that she set against Portland State on Aug. 29. Williams had the next most kills with 13 against the Roos. Wilkinson was impressive again on the backrow with 23 digs.
Morgan Blazzard joined her in double-digit digs with 13. Solomon had another solid match at setter with a team-high 35 assists.
"We have some young weapons this year, and that is going to happen," Schroeder said. "As long as we learn and grow from these lessons, we will keep moving in the right direction."
Sanni Rantanen led the Gamecocks with three service aces, while
Keyauna Linwood, Rantanen, and Schweikert all tied for a team-best two total blocks. Jax State had 44 kills, 44 assists, 63 digs, five aces, and five blocks as a squad against Kansas City.
Jax State will face Central Michigan Saturday at 12 p.m. in their last match of the tournament.
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