Volleyball Closes Nonconference Play With a Pair of Wins

Friday, September 18

Tuscaloosa, AL

12 PM

Jax State

2-9,0-0CUSA

Southern

2-7,0-0SWAC

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Southern U.	19	23	23	0
Jacksonville St.	25	25	25	3

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Nicholls	25	23	22	19	1
Jacksonville St.	17	25	25	25	3

9/18/2026 10:01:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Jax State volleyball closed out the 2026 Crimson Classic and nonconference slate with a pair of wins in Tuscaloosa Saturday. The Gamecocks downed Southern 3-0, then beat Nicholls 3-1 in the night cap.

Against Southern, Jax State won 25-19 in the first, 25-23 in the second, and 25-23 in the third to clinch the sweep. In the first set against the Jaguars, Jax State went on an early 4-0 run capped by a Sophia Schweikert to go up 13-8. The Gamecocks went up 17-11 thanks to an Azavia Thomas kill before Southern scored three-straight. Southern had a late burst for two-straight points to cut it 24-19 before a Lauren Buchanan kill clinched the set for the Gamecocks.

Jax State and Southern traded blows in the second set before a 3-0 run for the Gamecocks made it 15-12. With the Gamecocks up 18-15, Southern tied it at 18-all. Southern took the lead at 22-20 then went up 23-21 before Jax State scored four-in-a-row to take the set.

Trailing 8-4 early in the third, Taya Nordmann's kill sparked a 4-0 run to tie it up. The Gamecocks went on a 5-0 run to take the lead late 20-18. After Southern cut it to 24-23, an attacking error from the Jaguars clinched the match win for Jax State.

Jax State was led against Southern by Evans with 11 kills. Schweikert added 10 kills, and Nordmann had five. Nordmann led the way with four blocks; Addison Stone had a team-high 18 assists and a team-best 11 digs. Sofia Varela added 17 assists, while Delaney Moon tallied 10 digs.

Nicholls won the opening set 25-17 in the second match of the day for both teams. Jax State went on to win the second 25-23, the third 25-22, and the fourth 25-19. Evans led the way again with 11 kills, Thomas had nine, and Buchanan added seven. Moon and Buchanan tied for a team-leading three service aces, Anna Ray led with five blocks, Varela totaled 21 assists, and Gemma Morris had a team-high 10 digs.

After losing the first set, Jax State responded in the second set in part thanks to a late 4-0 run that put the Gamecocks ahead 19-17. Moon clinched the second with a service ace. In a back-and-forth third set, Buchanan had back-to-back service aces to put Jax State ahead 13-10. A late kill from Evans made it 21-18, but the Colonels answered with two-straight points to get within one. Izzy Whittaker put down a kill to take the set and put the Gamecocks in front 2-1.

In the fourth set, Nicholls had a kill to make it 14-13 Jax State before a pair of points extended Jax State's lead to three. Jax State went up 23-16 thanks to a kill from Buchanan, then Nicholls scored two-straight. After a Thomas kill, Nicholls added one more point, then Whittaker ended the match with another set clinching kill.

Jax State moves on to CUSA play next weekend when they travel to Delaware on Sep. 25 and Sep. 26.

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