JSU volleyball: Gamecocks start fast, sweep Tennessee Tech

Mark Edwards, The Anniston Star, Ala.
·3 min read

Mar. 1—JACKSONVILLE — Another day, another sweep for Jacksonville State.

The Gamecocks' volleyball team polished off Tennessee Tech 25-9, 25-17, 29-27 on Sunday for its fourth straight sweep.

Jacksonville State is now 7-0, which is tied for first place in the Ohio Valley Conference, and five of those wins were sweeps. Morehead State beat Tennessee State on Sunday and is also 7-0. Southeast Missouri is in third place at 5-2, posting its fifth straight win after losing the first two matches of the year to JSU.

"Of course, we're happy with 7-0, undefeated, but we're trying not to focus too much on how many games we've won but on how many games more we have to win," preseason All-OVC outside hitter Lena Kindermann said. "We're trying to leave the OVC undefeated this year, because we're going into the ASUN next year. So, we're trying to focus on the next game, one at a time."

The next match comes Monday at home against Tennessee Tech, which fell to 4-3. They'll play at 4 p.m. at Pete Mathews Coliseum. The OVC schedule has teams playing each other back-to-back, which is why Tech is in town for two matches in two days. Each team plays eight other teams back-to-back for a 16-game schedule.

The Gamecocks shot out fast Sunday, scoring the first four points in the opening set and eventually building a 10-2 lead. In the second set, it was more of the same, as JSU scored the first six points and eventually went up 9-1. The Gamecocks held on to win the set.

In the third, JSU experienced a rare hiccup. After winning the first four points and eventually building a 20-12 lead, Tech won 10 of the next 11 points. JSU was never down set point, however, and took the final two points on a service error and an attack error by Tech.

Head coach Todd Garvey used different lineups in the third set, allowing some of the reserves to play more.

What to know

—Kindermann contributed 14 kills. She entered with 82 for the season, which was good for 4.32 a set, ranking second in the league. Courtney Glotzbach had eight kills. Kaylie Milton and Katie Montgomery each had seven.

—Lexie Libs, who leads the league in assists, had 37 on Sunday. Erin Carmichael and Kylie Quigley had 11 digs, while Milton had six and Libs five.

—JSU's hitting percentage dipped to .171 in the third set, but was .319 for the match. That's better than the season average of .299, which leads the league.

Who said

—Kingermann on the focus this week: "We started off strong, because we've been working on defense all week, and it's our focus in making good defensive plays and setting up our defense, because we've been struggling with that a little bit."

—Kindermann on how the team has built its mental strength: "Usually, our practices are really hard, because our coaches try to make our practices harder than games. So, we're prepared for that. We try to put it to us mentally and physically so we're prepared."

Next up

—After Monday's match against Tennessee Tech, JSU will visit Belmont, host Eastern Kentucky and UT Martin and visit Morehead State for two matches March 28-29 that likely will decide the OVC regular-season championship.

Senior Editor Mark Edwards: 256-235-3570. On Twitter: @MarkSportsStar.