JACKSONVILLE, Fla. –Down 2-0, the Jacksonville University volleyball team completed the comeback defeating Florida Gulf Coast in five sets, 3-2; 18-25, 15-25, 25-19, 25-23 and 15-10. The Dolphins extend their record to 16-13, 7-7 while FGCU is now 19-10, 11-3 in conference play. With the victory, the Dolphins secure the third seed in next week's Atlantic-Sun Conference Tournament and will play North Florida in opening round.

In her last set at Swisher Gymnasium, Sammie Strausbaugh provided the exclamation point rattling off five kills, en route to, a phrase the Dolphin faithful have been accustomed to over her three years, a Strausbaugh kill-point to win the match.

"Sammie is the heart and soul of this program," said head coach Julie Darty, "It was a special day for her, and to spend the day celebrating Sammie, then have her finish it off in the fifth set like that to push us into the conference tournament was something special."

The fourth set would provide the electricity for the evening as there were 14-set ties and eight total lead changes. At 17-all, the Dolphins would rattle off three-straight points. The Eagles would answer tying the set at 22-all, before kills by Nushtayeva, Laskelle and a service error on FGCU would even the match at two-sets apiece.

"We started really focusing on what was happening on our side and what we could control. We played really calm and really confident, and the way we are playing couldn't have come at a better time. We are taking a lot of energy and composure into Fort Myers next weekend," said Darty.

Needing a shift in momentum being down two sets, the Dolphins would get out to an early 9-5 lead in the third set, only to be battled to a 10-10 set tie. But the Dolphins would never lose focus, and never gave up the lead running off a 9-4 scoring run, that would lead to a set victory of 25-19. 

Strausbaugh had 17 kills and 18 digs, her sixth-straight match with a double-double, and would add a presence at the net with four blocks. Freshman Olga Nushtayeva led the defensive strike with seven total blocks, totaling 15 for the weekend while, sophomore Rachel Miller had a game-high 25 digs, her fourth straight match with 20-plus digs.

Junior Jizzian Gesualdo had her second-straight double-double with 39 assists and 10 digs, while sophomore Kelly Koop had eight kills and 19 digs. Junior Emily Laskelle tallied 13 kills, her second-straight match with double-digit kills, eighth in conference matches. 

The Dolphins fell behind early in the first set when FGCU rallied off four straight points, and had a commanding 14-20 lead, resulting in a 18-25 set win. The second set was more of the same as the Eagles led by as many as 10, leading to a 15-25 set win.

Jacksonville volleyball will continue its quest for an A-Sun title when it travels to Fort Myers, Fla., for the 2014 conference tournament. Opening round is slated for Thursday, Nov. 20. 

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