CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – The sixth-seeded Jacksonville State volleyball team’s upset bid of No. 3 Murray State fell just short on Thursday as the Gamecocks’ season came to a close in a 3-1 setback in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament.
The Gamecocks (23-13, 9-7 OVC) took the opening set against the defending tournament champion Racers (21-8, 12-4), but were unable to complete a late comeback in the second, and were bested 25-16 and 25-17 in the final two sets after intermission.
In their final career match, seniors Allyson Zuhlke and Charis Ludtke led with 14 and 12 kills, respectively. Zuhlke, a first team All-OVC selection, added seven digs and four blocks in the contest. Madison Cooler closed her strong freshman season with 10 kills as the third Gamecock to reach double figures.
The Gamecocks were missing a valuable asset on Thursday as senior setter Jennifer Hart was unable to play due to illness. The Davidson, N.C., product had three 1,000-assist seasons for the red and white, and played a vital role in the success of 2017. In her place, sophomore Rachel Perucki finished with 24 assists, followed by Shayla Schmidt who recorded 15 in her first match of the season in the setting role. Perucki collected a double-double also recording 11 digs, while Schmidt pitched in two digs and two blocks.
In addition to Schmidt stepping up, freshman Kaylie Milton played big with a career-best 16 digs along the back row to lead the Gamecocks. Senior Hannah Kirk, who played all 531 sets of her Gamecock career, finished with 15 digs to bring her career tally to 1,858 for second-most all-time in JSU history. A staple of consistency, her 531 consecutive sets played ranks second all-time in NCAA Division I history behind Southeast Missouri State’s Tuba Meto (1994-97) who had 551.
The Racers opened the first set with a 4-0 lead, but the Gamecocks began to slowly chip away at the early deficit and gained its first lead at 11-10 off a combo block from Kaylee Frear and Mackenzie Rombach. Rombach would finish the day with six blocks and six kills. The game would tie at 19, 20 and 21, before a kill from Cooler and service ace from Kirk gave JSU enough separation to secure the first frame, 25-22.
In the second, MSU used a 6-0 run to grab an 18-10 advantage midway through the set. Jax State rallied with kills from Cooler, Ludtke and Kim Krutsinger to make it 21-20 late. But the Racers tightened things, up and never allowed JSU to even the score, before taking the game 25-21 to even the match at 1-1.
Out of the break, MSU turned up the intensity hitting .448 in the third with only two attack errors to best JSU 25-16 and take control of the match. The Gamecocks rebounded to begin the fourth with a 6-1 lead, but the experienced Racers who have won the tournament two of the past three years settled in to begin their comeback. A 14-1 run filled with long rally after long rally propelled the Racers ahead and onto a 25-17 set victory to win the match 3-1.
JSU’s 23-13 recorded marks its most wins since the 2009 season, which saw the Gamecocks advance to the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Find Our Sports Network On Facebook HERE