JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – With their third win in the last four games, the Jacksonville University volleyball team dominated its way to a 3-1 victory over NJIT in ASUN Conference action, Friday evening at Historic Swisher Gymnasium. The Dolphins (6-11, 2-1 ASUN) hit a staggering .472 for the match, including .536 and .552 in sets one and two, respectively.
Four Dolphins recorded 10 or more kills and all hit above .390 to produce the bulk of JU's 66 kills. Led by Hodges Mazda Player of the Game, freshman
Sydney Bolding posted a season-high 20 kills and hit .655 (20-1-29). With five kills in each of the four sets, Bolding hit a perfect 5-0-5 in the second set and added a pair of blocks in both the second and four sets.
Senior
Mallory Mattingly added a double-double with 17 kills and 13 digs, along with a .400 hitting percentage (17-3-35), followed by freshman
Lexi Wierzbicki with 15 kills (15-2-33, .394 hit %) and junior
Bailey Foy with 10 kills (10-1-18, .500 hit %). Junior
Madison Rayam added five blocks in the win.
"It was a great team win tonight. We killed balls at a super high clip this evening and controlled our side. WE have some things to continue to clean up, but we're excited for another league match on Sunday," stated head coach
Evan Muys following the win.
Cruising to 25-15 and 25-11 wins in the first two sets, the Dolphins faced their first test in the third set as NJIT (1-17, 0-3 ASUN) worked to pressure the hosts. After Jacksonville held NJIT to hit just .037 in the second set, the Highlanders rebounded by hitting .278 in the third as Adriana Goetz-Morales posted six of her eight kills to lead the visitors to a 26-24 win.
Wierzbicki, Bolding, and Mattingly all posted five kills each in the fourth as the Dolphins regained its momentum. Bolding and Rayam both added a pair of blocks to keep the Highlanders at bay en route to a 25-20 win for JU's second league win, 3-1.
NJIT's Goetz-Morales led the visitors with eight kills and 14 digs, while Susan Blake and Madi Busler also added eight kills apiece.
The Dolphins close out the weekend with a trip to North Alabama on Sunday, Oct. 2. First serve is set for 2 p.m. EST.
